A Forgotten Princess
by Kat12
Summary: Have you ever wondered what would happen if Serena left? Oh haitus for now!
1. Prolouge

A Forgotten Princess Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own Sailor Moon or any of their characters used in this ficy. *Cries* I do however own Melody Thead, Star, all the knights, and All the evil little baddies herein, save one who is a Sailor Moon Character. *Smile* So maybe I'm not so bad off after all! lol Enjoy the fic!  
  
Time and Place: The entire story is centered in Tokyo with a few flashbacks to the past and the Kingdom on the Moon, and will have no connection time- wise with the Anima or the Manga.  
  
Prelude  
  
Serena walked out of her last class on Friday feeling very happy for a change. There hadn't been a monster sited for three days, she had a date with Darien tonight, and Rei was having all of the scouts sleep over at the temple tonight. Life was grand.  
  
Just as she was almost home, Serena felt her communicator beep. 'Man! Just when things were going so well!' "This is Serena, what's up?" Seeing Lita's face on the communicator's screen, Serena could see that whatever it was it wasn't good.  
  
"Serena, there's a monster attacking the hospital. We need you over here like two minutes ago! Please hurry!"  
  
"Alright Lita, I'm on my way!" Sliding into an alley, Serena whispered, "Nova Moon Power!" A white light surrounded her, and silver bubbles rose to cover her. As gold bubbles passed her body, her shirt and skirt appeared. Then white bubbles appeared and her shoes and locket appeared. Then her symbol appeared at her forehead and her tiara and earrings appeared. With hands in a prayer-like stance, Nova Sailor Moon's transformation was complete. But something was different this time that no one would notice, not even Serena, until much later. Her hair and eyes had changed color! Her once blond hair was now lilac and her clear blue eyes were now a soft pink!  
  
People in the street watched in awe as she flew overhead looking for her friends. Her lilac shirt was hemmed in silver and her silver skirt was hemmed in lilac. Her tiara was gold with her symbol inside of the pink jewel. A silver heart graced the middle of her bow and served as her locket and symbol. Her front bow was silver but her back bow was lilac. Her earrings were gold hearts. She was a beautiful sight to behold, especially since her long lilac hair was blowing behind her in the soft breeze.  
  
As Nova Sailor Moon flew down the street, a sudden light appeared from nowhere and blasted her down to the street floor. 'Now where did that come from?' Looking up Nova Sailor Moon noticed that a woman was standing on top of a nearby building. Flying back up to the strange woman's level, Nova Sailor Moon noticed that her face was familiar.  
  
"Who are you and what do you want?"  
  
"My name is Blossom and I'm your worst enemy. You may have survived my last attack on you, Princess! But you won't survive this one. Freezing force!"  
  
Nova Sailor Moon noticed that as the woman said this, she froze and couldn't move at all. "Hey! What've you done to me?"  
  
"Nothing, I'm just going to leave you with a little present!" While Blossom was saying this, she floated over to Nova Sailor Moon and plunged a knife into her back left shoulder. Then Blossom disappeared, blade and all, and Nova Sailor Moon could move again.  
  
Ignoring her pain and forgetting the woman who'd caused it, Serena headed over to the hospital. The monster had flattened the top three floors and was now trying to flatten the scouts. Ami and Mina were bleeding from side wounds and Rei was fighting with her right arm broken. Lita was the only one who didn't have serious injuries. Nova Sailor Moon jumped onto the roof of the hospital and shouted, "Rainbow Hope Destroy!" Lilac hearts flew out of her hands and blasted the monster to dust!  
  
As the scouts turned to her, Nova Sailor Moon could tell that something was wrong. Lita and Ami both started yelling at her at the same time.  
  
"Where were you? Lita called you ten minutes ago!"  
  
"I thought you had this late thing under control! Don't you care about what happens to us?"  
  
Nova Sailor Moon tried to explain to her friends what had happened but they wouldn't listen to her.  
  
"We've heard enough excuses Serena. We decided a while ago that if you left us hanging again that we would do this. I think I speak for all of us when I say that you are no longer the leader of the Sailor Scouts and we don't want you in our group anymore!" Lita looked over at the other scouts who shook their heads in agreement. "Hand in your locket and don't ever talk to us again!"  
  
When Serena heard this she started to cry. "Why wont you even listen to me?" Drying her tears, Serena continued, "If that's how you all feel then fine! You can have this silly old thing and I won't ever come back to you." The building started to shake with the force of Serena's anger, as she continued to talk. "I'm leaving and you all can just fend for yourselves!" With that said Serena tore off her locket, and threw it at Lita, and said, "Here you have it! You've always been a better leader anyway!" Then she turned and walked slowly down the stairs. She heard the group's collective cry as they saw the blood on her shirt that was trailing down her back and legs. "Serena! Wait!" Without stopping, Serena exited the hospital and walked home.  
  
Serena ran up to her room and ripped off her fuku and looked at the wound on her back in her bathroom mirror. It was still bleeding, so she put some alcohol on it and covered it with a bandage. Putting on clean shorts and a shirt, Serena decided to head out to the park. Walking to the park gave Serena time to think about what she wanted to do now. 'I guess the only thing I can do is leave. My family's suppose to go see our relatives in three days, so I'll just tell mom and dad that I want to leave early. They won't care. Then I'll go..to America. The last place anyone would look for me.' When she got to the park, Serena sat on a bench and continued making her escape plans. Then out of nowhere Blossom reappeared before her!  
  
"So do you like my present? No? Well here, let me give you another one!" She flew at Serena and knocked her out. "That's gonna leave a mark! Oh well...now what to do?" Then Blossom disappeared and Serena was found and taken to the hospital by a man with dark brown hair.  
  
When she awoke, the man gave her a necklace that he said he found next to her in the park. Little did he know what he was giving her. He also told her the doctors had said that she might have amnesia. After trying to help Serena remember her name, he decided that she did have amnesia and offered to let her live with him. Serena agreed to this because she didn't have anywhere else to go. Three weeks later Ken took Serena home with him and gave her the name Melody.  
  
That was five years ago. Now Melody is a happy resident of downtown Tokyo, who works at a school down the street. She loves her class and she likes almost all the people she works with. Her life was happy and carefree. All that was about to change. 


	2. A New Beginning, A New Face

Chapter 1  
A New Beginning, A New Face  
Melody sighed, as for the tenth time, Ken asked her to go out with him. "We're living together, why not make it official? It's already what everyone thinks about us." 'I don't know why I can't, I just can't. Why does it feel so wrong though?' "I've told you a thousand times, Ken. I can't go out with you. It would be like dating my brother, in a weird sort of way. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense but you've just got to trust me on this one. Okay? Look, I'm late for work. I'll see you later, -k-?" With that Melody turned and walked out of the apartment. 'I can't believe it was five years ago that Ken and I met. I wonder if my family misses me? Do they think I'm dead? Where do they live? What is my real name?' Thoughts like this were nothing new to Melody. They always prayed on her, and sometimes she felt like she was so close to an answer. Walking down the street, nearly everyone looked at her twice. With long lilac hair and light pink eyes that were almost white, Melody had a very unique beauty. Opal white skin and a heart shaped face, made Melody quiet a site to see walking down the street. Especially today! Melody looked stunning in a white dress with pink and lilac flowers, small gold earrings and three gold bracelets graced her wrists, and her white-heeled shoes made the outfit complete. The over all affect was that Melody's skin and eyes were brought out and her hair was dimmed. The effect on her appearance was startling! When she reached the school, Melody sighed as she walked into her classroom. 'It'll be fun to go out with a guy but not the one I live with. I just haven't gotten around to looking for a guy yet. Well... Lets leave it at that because here comes my first class.' Five minutes later the late bell rang and Melody turned to the class and said, "Good Morning, students." "Good Morning," replied the class. A girl in the back raised her hands and said, "Excuse me, but where is Mrs. Haruna today?" "She's has decided to retire, so I will be your teacher for the rest of the year. My name is Melody. Seeing as I need to get to know you, I'll be calling roll call for the next few days. When I call your name would you please stand up? Thank you, now shall we begin? I don't like last names so I'll only be reading your first names. Andrew, Paul... Mina... Ami... Lita... Rei." Looking at the last four girls who's names she had just called Melody was hit with a sense of confusion. Ami was 5 foot 4, with short blue hair that framed her heart-like face. She seemed shy but quite inteligent. Lita was 5 foot 9, with long brown hair and she seemed to be very stong. 'Maybe she's a bully....I'll have to wait and see...' Mina was 5 foot 5, with long blond hair that hung loose all the way down to her knees. She seemed to be in love with the boy next to her, she had a dreamy look on her face. Rei was something else altogether. She was 5 foot 7, with long black hair that hung down to her waist. She seemed to be concentrating on something, but Melody couldn't figure out what it was because she was staring right at her! 'Strange. It's almost like she's trying to read my mind.' Melody thanked the class and asked them all to be seated. As she turned to write their assignment on the black board she wondered about the four girls. 'Why do those names seem familiar?' When she turned back around, Melody smiled at her class, pointed at the blackboard and said, "Okay class now that I know everyone's here, why don't you open your Math books to page 100 and we'll start learning about trinomials..." The entire day was spent with Melody learning how far the class was in each subject and her trying to figure out where she'd heard the names Mina, Ami, Lita, and Rei. At three o'clock she was ready to go home. On her way there, Melody saw an arcade with a restaurant on the side of it. Walking inside, Melody was greeted with the sight of the four girls who's names she couldn't remember. 'This must be where they hang out. I wonder if I should talk to them?' That question was answered for her as Ami spotted her. "Melody! Over here! Come and sit with us!" Smiling at her, Melody walked over and sat down at the table with the girls. "Hello girls. How are you?" "Fine." "Melody, how is it that your the same age as us and yet you teach classes and look and act like you've already graduated?" asked Rei. Grinning impishly, Melody said, "Well...I am 16...I think. I think I've already graduated and teaching is my job. I'm sorry I can't give many more details after that. You see five years ago, I was attacked by someone and lost my memory. A nice guy came and took me to the hospital and then took me home to live with him. Does that answer your question Rei?" "Oh yes...That's so sad! Is there anything that we can do that might help you get your memory back?" "None that I know of but that doesn't bother me. I'm happy with the life I have now, and wouldn't change it for anything." Melody cringed as a headache began. "I'm sorry girls, but I seem to have a headache. It was nice to see all of you out of class. Thanks for letting me chat with all of you. Lita, Mina, Rei, Ami...if you will please excuse me." Getting up, Melody bowed and walked out of the resturant. While on her way home, Melody's headache became worse. 'What's wrong with me?' Suddenly a loud,"BOOM!", thundered through the city and a cloud of dust lifted into the sky. "What?!" Running toward the cloud, Melody oddly felt that this was something she used to do. Rounding the corner, Melody saw a site that made her sick. A figure in the air was laughing at the rubble that used to be her apartment building! 'Der...ick....!' "You nasty little witch! How could you!," Melody cried as she sank to her knees. "Well, well, well! If it isn't the little princess come to fight me again. How are we feeling? Confused?....Good! Now do run away and leave this to someone who is able to fight." 'Princess.......?' "What do you mean, Princess? My names Melody and if you don't stop I'm going to have to call the cops!" "Will you now? That might be interesting, but lets try this instead shall we? Cheery Blossom.....DETONATE!" Just then the Sailor Scouts arrived. "Alright you.....Melody! Move!," shouted Sailor Mars! All of the scouts started to run toward Melody but they knew that they'd never make it in time. Melody could only stare horrified, as a ball of pink light flew toward her. She heard someone tell her to move but she couldn't! Right before it hit her, Melody closed her eyes and waited for the pain to start. But where was the pain?.... Slowly opening her eyes, Melody saw that she was about twenty feet from where she used to be and a strange man dressed in a gray tuxedo was setting her down on her feet. "Are you alright, Princess?...Just leave this to me, I'll take care of it. Winters.....Fury." Blossom screamed as she was destroyed in a wave of white light. Then a voice came from nowhere said, "You may have won the battle but you wont win the war! The chancelor of hope will be mine!" Then just as suddenly as the voice was heard, it disappeared! The strange man slowly walked toward Melody. Softly he asked her,"Are you alright?" Melody gasped as she heard the voice again. "Do...I....Know you?" Then all of the shock and fear of the encounter hit her, and Melody fainted into the mans waiting arms. "You won't hurt her will you?" The man turned at the sound of four female voices. "I won't hurt her, scouts. You can trust me....and my friends. We'll meet again!" The scouts turned as the man walked away with Melody still in his arms. They all gasped when he was joined by four other men in gray tuxedos. "Why that!....They could have!......Who are they?" Sailor Jupiter turned to look at Sailor Mercury as she asked this and sighed when Sailor Mercury answered with, "Your guess is as good as mine." All the scouts watched as the five strange men walked into the sunset. 


	3. Nova Mars!

Walking down the street with someone in your arms has some distinctive drawbacks. For one, people automatically think that if a girl is unconscious in your arms, you've done something wrong. Two, having people stare at you while you walk is very disconcerting. Finally, no matter how light a person is they will get heavy after twenty minutes. Chris sighed as he spotted the house that he was taking the girl to. Glancing down at her, Chris was struck by a wave of protective feelings for the girl. Mentally shaking himself, Chris reminded himself that she might be for him but she didn't like him that way. 'Besides, she doesn't even remember you, Chris. She won't even remember half of what happened tonight because of shock. She is a pretty thing though. I still don't see how such a fragile thing can house such power and resolve. It's a crazy world we live in.' Walking slowly up the stairs so as not to jostle the girl, Chris quickly opened the door to an apartment and back down the one way hall into the spare bedroom on the left. Setting her down softly on the bed, Chris watched as she settled into a comfortable position and sank into a peaceful sleep. The girl slept on her right side with both hands curled up around her face. Her knees were bent and curled up almost to her head. Chris could see that something was bothering her by the frown that slowly formed on her forehead and bent down by the bed and smoothed out her hair. This calmed the girl down and she quickly went into a dreamless slumber. 'Why does she sleep like that? It's almost like she's afraid of something...what could it be? Well, at least for tonight I know she's safe and hopefully she'll get a good nights sleep.' Getting up without a sound, Chris started to leave the room. Right before he left, Chris turned around and took one last look at the sleeping Melody. "Good night....Princess." As the softly spoken words filtered into the air, Chris left the building and started on his way home. Thinking about the girl and what his mission now consisted of, Chris smiled as the sun slowly rose in the now pink sky. The one thought that kept running through his head was, 'My search is over...I've found her!'  
  
Melody slowly opened her eyes as she stretched on the bed beneath her. 'Wait a minute...' Sitting boltly upright, Melody blinked in the early morning sunlight. Trying to remember what happened last night, Melody cam up with only fuzzy memories. The park....bright light...a man's face...These images made no sense! Smelling bacon frying, Melody got up and walked down the hall and into the living room. Standing in the doorway of the hall, Melody gasped in shock! In the living room on the coach sat Ami, Rei, and Mina! They hadn't realized she was there because their back's were to her and Melody quickly retreated behind a nearby chair to hide. 'How did I get into their apartment? What is going on here?' Hearing the news come on Melody and the girls listened intently.  
  
"A monster was sited in the park yesterday evening but thankfully some mysterious men in tuxedos took care of it. A young girl was injured in the fray and had to be carried away but as of yet, she has not been admitted into a hospital. This city's only question about this matter is, Where were the Sailor Scouts? In other news..." Melody was in shock. They were talking about her dream..or was it a dream? Images crashed in on her as she remembered what happened last night. Trembling, Melody barely heard the conversation the girls were having. "I can't believe this, new monsters and new heroes? Who were those guys anyway? I though things couldn't get any worse."  
  
"Come on Ami, things aren't so bad. I mean, look at it this way. Life won't be dull with them around."  
  
"Things are never dull in Tokyo, Mina, but things won't ever be normal if stuff like this keeps happening!" Just then a voice came from the kitchen, "Hey guys, breakfast is on! We only have fifteen minutes before our bus gets here!" Walking out of the kitchen, Lita carried a plate of bacon and eggs with a smile on her face. Suddenly she stopped as she saw something that shouldn't have been in her apartment! Having an un-obscured view of the living room, Lita had no problem seeing Melody hiding behind the coach. Dropping the plate onto the floor, Lita gasped and lost all the color she'd had on her face.  
  
"Lita...what's up with you?..." Glancing behind the couch where she was sitting, Ami saw Melody and gasped too! Jumping up from the coach, Ami said, "Melody! What are you doing here?"  
  
Startled by the sudden use of her name, Melody was quickly brought out of her panic and back to reality. "I..don't know how I got here. I remember being in the park last night and after that..it's all kind of fuzzy. I woke up this morning in this apartment and that's all I remember. I'm so sorry that this happened...I'll leave now." Embarrassed and confused, Melody looked around for the door and started to walk towards it when Lita's voice came to her. "Melody,..why don't you stay for breakfast? We all have to take the same bus to school and it'll give us a chance to talk outside of school. I'd love for you to stay. How 'bout it?"  
  
Melody turned and saw the sincerity on Lita's face and saw that the other girls wanted her to stay too. "Okay, if your sure you don't mind.."  
  
"Mind? Please, the more the merrier and besides you're already here. What's the point in making a big deal about it anyway? You're our age and you're pretty cool. So, are you hungry?"  
  
Laughing Melody replied, "I'm starving, Rei! I don't think I ate anything last night. Umm..Mind showing me where everything is?" "No problem, Melody just follow us!" With that said, Mina led the way to the kitchen, with Melody and Rei right behind her. Ami didn't go in the kitchen though.  
  
"Lita..why do you suppose those guys brought her here? I mean shouldn't they have taken her home?" Ami whispered to Lita with confusion and hope in her eyes. "Do you think that maybe..."  
  
"I don't know and I don't care. Melody's house was probably the building that yoma destroyed. That's the only reason I would think that they brought her here. My question is..how did they know where we live and that the spare bedroom was open? This is all a little to strange for me. We need to have a scout meeting after school today...back here. Will you tell Mina and Rei?"  
  
"Sure, no problem." Ami was a little hurt by Lita's response. Ami regretted the decision they had all made five years ago. 'We never should have let her go..she was the heart and soul of the team.' Walking into the kitchen, Ami found that Mina, Rei, and Melody were covered in orange juice and laughing. "What happened?" "Rei, tried to pour orange juice into her glass but it tipped over and...we," dissolving into laughter, Mina mimed what had happened. Ami laughed at the thought of having orange juice flying at you because someone tried to save it by shooting the glass at it! "Rei! I thought you were smarter than that!" Joining the girls in cleaning up the mess, Ami realized that this was the first time in five years that Rei and Mina had laughed. 'I don't know who you are Melody, but thank you.' Eating in a rush, all the girls quickly cleaned the dishes and changed clothes. "Melody, if you need a change of clothes I've got something that might fit you!" Following Rei into her room, Melody smiled as she saw that Rei's room was covered in pictures of temples and fires. "I love your room Rei, it's so...hot!"  
  
Grinning Rei said, "Yea, I love fires and temples. I just have a fascination for them. I'm staying with Ami, Mina, and Lita until my temple is rebuilt. Me and my grandpa own the Cherry Hill Temple but five years ago it was burned down. It's almost finished though and I can't wait to get home. Ah! Here we go! Just your size!" Pulling out a pair of black jeans and a black shirt with flames, Rei smiled and said, "What can I say..I love fire!" Laughing, Melody said, "It's a good thing it's casual day at school today or I'd be fried!"  
  
When they had changed clothes, they all rushed to the bus stop. As she sat down in between Mina and Rei, Melody smiled at her good fortune. 'I was lonely but now..I have friends!' Laughing and talking, Melody, Mina and Rei quickly formed a friendship. Ami and Lita didn't talk much but Ami wished that she could join in the fun. As they got off the bus, Mina looked at Melody and said, "Melody..does this mean no homework tonight?" Looking hopefully at her new friend, Mina wished for no homework. "I'm sorry Mina but yes you will have homework tonight. Besides I can't just stop school because I didn't have time to grade yesterday..and I haven't been home in..24 hours. But don't worry, you'll have class time to work on it."  
  
Walking up the stairs and into the classroom, Melody was greeted by a full room. "Great, everyone please take your seats! Class will start in one minute." Walking to her desk, Melody noticed that the room had gone very quite. Turning, Melody saw that the entire class was sitting attentively in their seats. 'This is strange.' The only people acting normally were Lita, Ami, Rei, Mina, and herself. Not really wondering about what was going on, Melody taught for the whole morning and dismissed her class for lunch as usual. But instead of a stampede for the door, the only people to leave the room for lunch were Ami, Lita, Rei, and Mina.  
  
Starting to get a little worried, Melody decided to get online and look up a medical website. But as she turned on the computer something happened! Her mouse started to grow! But machines didn't get bigger! Then it grew arms and legs and...a head! Dashing under the table, Melody hid as the monster, sucked the energy out of her students. "Little one...come out so I can suck your energy!"  
  
Worried about her students, Melody peeked between the cracks of her desk and saw a tiny mouse standing on the desk where Ami usually sat. As far as she could tell her students were out cold! Whispering very softly, "Please, help us. Someone, help us," Melody crawled for the door and made it to the hall. Looking into the classroom next to hers, Melody saw that this classroom was empty! 'Oh, it's lunch-time. No one will be here.' Then she turned to try and get to the stairs and found the mouse looking right at her! "Little one, I've come for your energy. Now go to sleep..."  
  
Melody ducked as three wires came at her head and ran to the only place she could. Racing up the stairs towards the roof, Melody prayed that the mouse couldn't climb. Looking behind her, Melody saw that although the mouse couldn't climb it could run on the walls. Finally, Melody reached the roof and found Lita, Ami, Rei, and Mina all there. "Guys, there's a monster right behind me! We've got to get out of here!" Just then, three wires wrapped themselves around Melody and stole all of her energy. As she blacked out Melody wished that the Sailor Scouts were here...whoever they were.  
  
Ami was startled when Melody rushed out of the stairway and then started talking about a monster. Then she was shocked when three wire came out of nowhere and sucked her energy right from her. Rei cried out, "Melody!" While Mina simply transformed and said, "Your going to pay for that, you little rodent!" Lita transformed and didn't say a word instead she looked at Rei and Ami. Feeling Lita's displeasure, Ami quickly transformed. Rei, on the other hand, ran towards Melody as the mouse dropped her. "Melody! Talk to me. Please!"  
  
Shocked by Rei's outburst, Sailor Jupiter snapped, "Rei! Transform so we can beat this slime. Leave Melody alone, she'll be alright!"  
  
Tears running down her face, Rei stood up and said, "Mars Crystal Power." Transforming into Sailor Mars, she glared at Sailor Jupiter and said, "I don't answer to you and I'll look after my friends if I think they need to be looked after." Turning her full attention to the mouse, Sailor Mars said, "Your going to wish that you had never done that...Mars..Temple..Flame!" A circle appeared under the mouse and then the entire area enclosed in the circle burst into flame! Screaming in agony, the mouse quickly dropped to the ground and rolled away from the fire while putting out its own flames.  
  
Standing up the mouse said, "That was a stupid thing to do..." Suddenly, Rei was blasted by a falling electrical wire. As Rei lost consciousness her only thought was, 'Thank heavens...Melody's awake.' Melody slowly opened her eyes as she regained consciousness. But when she opened her eyes she was greeted by the site of Sailor Mars being blasted by and electrical wire. "NO!" Without her knowledge or anyone else's, Melody began to glow a soft lilac and Sailor Mars soon followed her!  
  
Floating in a sea of red, Sailor Mars opened her eyes. 'Well, that was fun. I was hoping to reach 17 before I died this time around but I guess 16 is the magic number. Who's there?' Looking around, Sailor Mars searched for the owner of the pure energy she felt. "It is not your time to die yet. My daughter still needs your help. She is here to give you something. Accept it and awaken to your new destiny."  
  
Looking around for the owner of that soft voice, Sailor Mars noticed that a girl with long hair was coming towards her. She was wearing a long white dress with small pink and purple flowers on it and a small tiara graced her forehead. She couldn't see any facial features or the color of her hair because of the light that shone right into her face. Listening with all of her might, Sailor Mars tried to place the voice with a face.  
  
"Sailor Mars, you are the guardian of fire. Your passion for life is a fire that none can douse. Please accept this gift. It will help you rekindle the fire in your heart." Slowly raising her hands, the girl sent a small crystal at Sailor Mars. Catching the crystal, Sailor Mars saw that it was a small red circle. Inside the circle, was a very tiny black fairy. Feeling the power creeping up towards her heart, Sailor Mars said, "Thank you...whoever you are!" Then she regained consciousness!  
  
Opening her eyes, Sailor Mars felt something in her hand. Getting up, she opened her hand to see the crystal she'd received in her dream. Not knowing where the words came from, she whispered, "Flame Fairy Power!" Immediately, she was surrounded by a red cloud and flames encased her body. Quickly her red heeled shoes vanished and black shoes reappeared in their place. Her once white shirt was now red and her skirt was now black. Her front bow was black and a star pendent appeared in the center of her bow. In the center of the pendent was her fairy crystal and her back bow was red and hung down to her ankles. She wore no gloves and her hair was now pulled up in a half-ponytail. Her earrings were two black stars and her tiara was now a thin silver line with a teardrop red ruby hanging down in the center of her head. Coming back to rest on the ground, Nova Sailor Mars was ready to fight!  
  
As the red cloud departed, Nova Sailor Mars took in the scene at a glance. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter were sucked dry of any energy. Sailor Venus was fighting the mouse now, defending the now unconscious Melody. Just as she took one step in their direction, Venus was captured by four wires and her energy was gone!  
  
"I won't forgive you for what you've done! I am here to fry your circuits! In the name of Mars...Your toast!" Grimly smiling at the mouse, Nova Sailor Mars searched for a weakness.  
  
The mouse slowly turned towards Nova Sailor Mars as she said, "You think your so smart? Why will I be toast when your friends couldn't even touch me? Ha! My name is Click and I warn you not to mess with me. Give me your energy and I'll let you live."  
  
Grinning Nova Sailor Mars said, "You may be smart but everyone has their weaknesses and I just found yours! Fairy Flame....Burn!" Sending what looked like dust at Click, Nova Sailor Mars concentrated on sending the dust straight into Click's mouth. Sure enough, Click opened wide and ate her dust, literally! Crouching down, Nova Sailor Mars said, "I'll see you in the next life! Three...Two...One..!" Ducking her head, Nova Sailor Mars watched as Click melted from the inside out. "That's why you should never play with fire." Rushing over to Venus and Melody, Nova Sailor Mars started looking for injuries. Seeing that they were okay, she rushed over to Mercury and  
  
Jupiter, who were just coming around. "Are you two alright?" "I think I'm okay, but what happened? Where's the monster? Wow! What happened to you, Rei?" Sitting up, Sailor Mercury's eyes were wide as she took in Nova Sailor Mars' new outfit. "You beat her all by yourself, didn't you?" Standing up, Mercury went to help Jupiter up as she thought about what this could mean.  
  
"Yea, I'm alright. Just a few bumps and bruises. So, what happened? Mercury, you might want to watch your word usage when not around scouts!" Pointing toward Melody, Jupiter got up with Mercury's help and turned toward Nova Sailor Mars, waiting for an answer.  
  
"I'm glad you two are alright! The monster's gone, don't worry. Well, Mercury, I'm not too sure myself. When I got blasted by Click, I was put into a simi-dream world. Like when you got your super power, Mercury. This voice said it wasn't my time to die. Her daughter still needed my help and that she had a gift for me. Then this girl appeared. She wore a white dress with pink and purple flower's on it and gave me this crystal." Pointing at her new crystal, Nova Sailor Mars detransformed back into Rei and handed Mercury her new necklace. "What do you make of that?"  
  
Detransforming back into Lita and Ami, Ami said, "I don't know what to make of that. I think we have a new mission, since...well...we abandoned our old mission." Turning the necklace over in her hands, Ami said, "This is a great treasure, Rei. I think you've been chosen for something. What I can't say, but my gut is telling me that you've passed some kind of test." Turning toward Melody, Ami asked, "Is she okay?..Are they okay?" Walking over to Venus, Ami leaned down and shook her gently. "Wake up! Come on, wake up!"  
  
Lita stood in stony silence as Ami and Rei talked. It was her idea to abandon their old mission. She knew that they didn't blame her for the way it all turned out but she also knew that it was her fault. 'Oh Serena, if only I could see you one more time and tell you how wrong we were to ever let you go. I will always live with the regret that my one action happened. If your listening to this...I'm sorry." Walking over towards Venus, Ami, Rei, and Melody, Lita wondered if it was time for her to leave the group.  
  
Venus groaned softly as she came to. Opening her eyes, she saw Lita, Rei, and Ami kneeling beside her. "Oh man! I'm sorry guys. What happened? Is Melody okay?!" Sitting upright, Venus sighed as she saw the Melody was beside her and she didn't look any worse for wear. Noticing that the others had detransformed, Venus quickly followed their exapmle. Looking at Ami, Mina said, "So, I guess we got beat...didn't we?"  
  
"No Mina, we didn't get beat. Rei fried that yoma, I can't tell you how though because I was out. She's also been powered up to...something. Melody's fine, just knocked out. We're going to have a lot of explaining to do." Noticing that Melody was starting to move, Ami whispered, "We need to keep our story straight so follow my lead, okay?" Melody slowly opened her eyes. She remembered running up the stiars and...OH NO! Sitting up, Melody looked for the girl who'd protected her. Instead she was greeted by the site of Ami, Lita, Mina, and Rei. They looked bruised and battered, but they didn't seem to be hurt. "Are you guys okay?..What happened? Where did those girls go? Who were they?"  
  
Sighing, Rei held out her hand to Melody and helped her up. "Those girls were the Sailor Scouts. They protect Tokyo and all the peole in it from monster's. They're called yomas. Nova Sailor Mars blasted that mouse into little bits and saved us. She and the other scouts left as soon as they knew we were okay. Oh, and yes, we're fine. How about you?..Are you okay?"  
  
Grinning, Melody said, "Looks like I had another incounter with my hero's from yesterday...Oh!" Embarrassed, Melody quickly told the girls what she remembered about last night. Looking at Lita, Mina and Rei didn't have to say a word about what they wanted to do. Lita smiled and nodded her head.  
  
"Melody, you can stay at our place. Our parents are gone for the year on foreign affair buisness, so it's perfect!" "I'd like nothing better, thank you." Getting back up, Melody said, "Okay, lets go back to class. They're probably worried about us." Walking back down the stairs, Melody was greeted by a very upset class rushing up the stairs in search of her. "I'm fine!," she yelled over the turmoil. "Go back to class and I'll explain what happened when we get there." Surrouned by her new friends, Melody calmly led the way back to the desimated classroom. "Wow! Okay, turn everything back over. Great job. Okay, here's what happened..." Then Melody told her class what happened to their classroom and why she'd been on the roof. When she'd finished there was only ten minutes left in the school day, so Melody decided to let them out early. "I know it's early but...Class Dissmissed."  
  
Laughing at the usual stampede out the door, Melody got on the bus with the four girls and went to her new home. It was dark by the time they got home, so it was a quick dinner of ham sandwiches and then bed.  
  
"Melody, you can sleep in the spare room you slept in last night. Goodnight everyone!"  
  
"Goodnight, Lita! Hey Melody, can you help me with the math assignment in the morning?"  
  
"Sure thing, Ami! 'Night everyone! Thanks for letting me stay with you guys."  
  
"Melody, its cool. I mean you help us with homework, we give you a place to sleep it works out great. Besides, I like having my friends around me all the time." " Mina! Oh, well that's better. Night everyone. Pleasent dreams."  
  
"Goodnight Rei." Walking into her new room, Melody fell asleep dreaming about a man. He was wearing a gray tuxedo and in his held a small key on a silver chain.... 


	4. Enter The Knights

Chapter 3 

Enter the Knights!

Three days later, it was Saturday. Melody always slept late on Saturday's so she didn't wake up until noon! By that time, Lita and the others had already gone out shopping. Deciding to just be lazy today, Melody got dressed and decided to walk to the park. Looking outside her window, Melody saw that today was a perfect day. Racing outside Melody was greeted by a nice warm breeze that made the temperature a great 75 degrees.

The sun was shinning, the birds were singing, and the sky was a clear clean blue. The grass was a deep green, the flowers smelled like sweet honey and children ran and played in the parks and playgrounds. Skipping along the sidewalks of Tokyo's most famous park, Melody suddenly stopped as she felt a small hand slide into hers. Looking down, Melody saw a small girl with lilac hair and cornflower blue eyes looking up at her. "Wanna play freeze tag with us?" Pointing to a small group of toddlers, the girl said, "Great! Let's go!" Laughing, Melody allowed the girl to pull her into the game. 

"Now you look here! When I tag you no go nowhere,okay?" 

"Alright. I won't go anywhere." Then the small child, laughed and tagged her! "Why you little imp!," starting to move her foot the child squealed, "NO! You can't move you said you won't go nowhere!" 

Smiling Melody said, "Alright you win....for now!" Laughing and playing, Melody spent two hours with the toddlers before they let her leave. Once she got away, Melody headed straight for the Crown Arcade. "Whew! That was tiring!" Sitting in a corner booth again, Melody ordered a soda and sat sipping it slowly. Watching the people pass, Melody noticed that a man was sitting across the street from the arcade and he wasn't moving. 

He was wearing black shorts and a white t-shirt with nothing on it and a black baseball cap, which looked like it'd been rolled in the dirt a few times. She couldn't see his face because of his hat, but she could see that he was muscular, like he worked out every day, and he had a nice tan. He was tall, as far as she could tell and he seemed to be watching the arcade. 'I wonder if he's looking for someone?' 

Watching and waiting, Melody wondered about the strange man in the hat. 'He hasn't moved for over an hour. I wonder what he's doing out their?' Just then Melody realized that she'd been in the booth for over an hour and had finished her soda a long time ago. Quickly getting up and paying her bill, Melody exited the arcade. She quickly looked for the man in the ball cap but found him to be nowhere in sight. 'Hmmm... That's odd...'

Then she realized that it was now close to 7 p.m. Starting her walk home, Melody suddenly felt that she was being watched again. Turning around, Melody didn't see anyone. 'That's odd. Its usually swarming with people this time of night.' Starting to walk again, Melody couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. 

Turning the corner, Melody gasped at what she saw! The little girl who had pulled her into the freeze tag game was being attacked by a teddy bear looking monster. "Get away from her!," Melody cried. Rushing forward, she picked up a rock and threw it at the monster. Not looking to see if she hit it, Melody dashed in front of the monster, grabbed the girl and ran behind a tree. "Shh...don't cry. I'm here to help." Melody tried to calm and quite the child so the monster wouldn't know where they were. "Please, if you scouts are real, help me." Melody whispered the words into the still night air. 

The monster was temporarily distracted by the rock hitting it square in the head but was soon back in fighting mode. Noticing that her quarry seemed to be gone, she said, "I know your out there, little birds. I may not be able to see you, but I can hear you. If you come out now I promise not to hurt you." 

The little girl gasped as the monster said it could hear them. Melody held onto her and whispered in her ear. "As long as we don't move we'll be okay. Just don't move or say anything." The little girl shook her head and kept quite. Melody peeked out from behind the tree to see the monster in full battle mode looking for them. "Please, someone help us...anyone..." Melody whispered as tears coursed down her face for fear that the child wrapped in her arms would be hurt. 

Suddenly, as though someone had been watching or waiting for some sort of sign, four men stood up and jumped down in front of the tree that Melody and the child were hiding behind. They were all wearing tuxedos and each of them held a sword out in front of them. 

Stepping in front of the other three, the strange man in the gray tuxedo said, "Picking on innocent children? I see that some things never change. Well, I'm here to make sure that the innocents of this world are safe from the likes of you! So eat this, you slime ball! Cosmic," a white light surrounded the strange man's sword and grew into a ball of light at the end of his sword,"...Fury!" The ball of white light left the end of his sword and hit the monster dead in the chest. Screaming only once, the monster disintegrated into dust before Melody's horror stricken eyes. As the dust settled, Melody found that the four strange men now surrounded her and her small charge. 

Slowly, Melody stood up and placed the child behind her. She didn't know who who these men were but she knew one thing, they were dangerous! "Who are you?" Melody asked in a soft voice. 

The man in the gray tuxedo stepped forward again, and bowed before Melody. "Princess...I am your loyal servant." He had blond hair and sky blue eyes that sparkled with hidden humor. He was tall, almost 6 feet tall!, and was built like an athlete. He smiled to reassure Melody, but he didn't know if it was working or not.

Melody was startled that the man who'd just saved her life had bowed to her! "Thanks, but I'm not a Princess. My names Melody and thank you for saving our lives." Bowing to him, Melody bent down to the girl's level and asked softly, "Can you tell me where you live? I want to take you home to your mom and dad." 

The girl was shaking and began to cry softly. "I live on Georgia Street. House number 3345. Thank you!" Suddenly the child threw herself into Melody's arms. She clung to Melody with the force of desperation. Softly whispering, "You are a nice lady. Please take me to my mommy." 

Melody was touched by the softness in the girl's voice and her complete trust that she couldn't hurt her. Picking up the child and holding her in her arms, Melody turned to the men and said, "Well, I'm on my way to Georgia Street. I've got to get her home." Walking softly, so as not to scare the girl anymore, Melody asked softly, "Can you tell me your name sweetie? My name is Melody." Looking down at the girl in her arms, Melody tried to calm and sooth the frightened child.

"My name is Jessica. Jessica Heart. Nice to meet you Melody." Slowly Jessica began to calm down to where she wasn't shaking. She felt safe in Melody's arms and was soon fast asleep.

Melody smiled down at Jessica and wondered how this would effect her life. "Poor thing, she's been through the ringer, tonight. I hope she'll be okay. Good night, Jessica." Melody watched in fascination as Jessica slowly fell asleep in her arms. Smiling, Melody finished walking her home and returned her to a very happy mother and father. 

'Great! I'm late getting home again. I wonder who those guys were. Oh dear, what are Lita and the gang going to say when I get home?' Walking home, Melody thought about how she seemed to be attracting trouble. 'Maybe I should leave...' Walking through the door of her shared apartment, Melody was greeted by four worried roommates. 

"Melody! Are you okay? I was worried..what kept you? Do you..."

"Before anyone else says anything!," Melody interrupted, "I just want to say, I'm fine. Thanks for asking Ami. There was a monster attacking a girl I met today and I went to try and help. I didn't do too well, but these four strange men in tuxedo's saved us and walked with me to the little girl home. Then they just vanished! I'm really sorry I'm late. Why are you guys still up?" 

"Oh, we were waiting for you. We wanted to ask you something but it can wait until tomorrow morning. Goodnight Melody." Giving the others a look, Rei motioned them all into their respective rooms and then entered her own room. "See you in the morning."

"Goodnight everyone." Walking back to her bedroom, Melody smiled to herself. 'Sometimes I wonder if I mean something to anyone and last few days...I've come to realize that I mean a great deal to at lest four people.' Falling asleep, Melody dreamed again of a man in a gray tuxedo with a small key necklace in his hand. 

Back... Table of Contents Continue...


	5. Nova Venus?

Chapter 4

Nova Venus?

Melody smiled as she rode the bus home with Rei and Mina on Monday. 'I can't believe all that's happened to me in the past week. I've been involved with two monster wait! Make that three monster attacks and I'm living with four of my students. Life sure can be strange at times.' Laughing at her thoughts, Melody waited for Mina and Rei to get off the bus. Walking down the steps, Melody felt someone push her from behind. Trying to keep her balance, Melody grabbed the nearest thing to steady herself. 

Gasping, Melody felt herself go red as she realized that she'd gabbed the arm of the man beside her! "Gomen! I'm so sorry!" Melody quickly let go of the man's arm as she regained her balance. Blushing to the roots of her hair, Melody thought, 'He's the cutest guy I've ever seen! Hey, and he's the guy from the restaurant. I wonder if he lives near here.'

** "It's quiet alright miss. I don't think I'm any worse for wear, in fact I think I'm better. I just met a beautiful girl because of someone's bad manners." **

Glaring at the man behind them, Chris quickly made sure that the man apologized and left. Blushing again, Melody accepted the man's apology and walked off the bus. After getting off the bus, Chris followed Melody to meet her friends. **"Here you are miss." **

"Thank you very much for your help...?" 

** "Oh, my name is Chris. Chris Holman, to be precise."**

'Chris...I like that name but why does it sound familiar?**' **"Thanks Chris. My name is Melody and these are my friends Mina and Rei."

** "It's nice to meet you Melody, and you too Mina and Rei. If you ladies will please excuse me, I have to get going. Maybe we'll meet again someday. If that happens, ice cream on me, okay?" **Bowing before the three girls, Chris quickly walked away. 

Bowing as Chris took his leave, Melody knew that Rei and Mina were dying to ask her for details. "I only know that his name is Chris!" Rushing away from them, Melody laughed as they gasped and raced after her. 'This could turn out to be fun after all.' 

Lita sighed as Melody, Rei, and Mina all raced into the apartment breathless. _**"Well, it's nice to see you all having fun. How did your day go?"**_

** "Oh Lita it was great! After school, we all met up in the park and Melody let us watch her ice skating practice! She's better than we thought she was, even she doesn't know how good she is! Then we all went and spent the day at the park. OH! On the way home, Melody met this really cute guy who wants to take us out for ice cream."**

Laughing at the pained look on Melody's face, Lita said, **_"Are you sure Melody wants you two to go with her? What if she likes this guy and wants to have a personal date with him?"_** Laughing at Melody's shocked expression, Lita walked into the kitchen and said, **_"Oh, dinner's ready. I thought we'd wait on Ami but she called and said she'd eat in town. She's got a really late class to go to tonight so lets eat!"_** Sitting down at the table, Lita and the others quickly ate the fried chicken and rice dinner that Lita had made. 

"Lita! I don't know what I'd do without your cooking! This is excellent!" Melody had finally gotten her blush under control and laughed at herself. "I'd actually love it if you would all come with me for ice cream, IF we see Chris again." 

Laughing, the four girls spent the night finishing their homework and then hitting the sac. Melody sighed as she went to sleep that night. 'I wonder if I'll see Chris again someday...'

Waking up earlier than usual, Melody smiled as she crept into the kitchen and began to cook breakfast for the girls. 'Lita will be so happy.' Making her specialty, Melody frowned as Amy walked into the living room looking like she hadn't slept very well that night. Walking into the living room, she asked, "Ami...are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine thank you. I just stayed up too late with that class last night. It wasn't over until past midnight." Grinning, Ami said, "I'm going to take a quick shower.." 

"Okay Ami..." Watching her friend walk away, Melody noticed something was different about her until Lita screamed from her room. Rushing into the kitchen, Lita said, "Oh no! We're going to be late because I over slept...Huh?" Melody laughed as Lita looked at all the food that Melody had ready and waiting for her friends. Laughing she said, "Don't worry Lita. I was up early today so I cooked for you." 

Lita grinned sheepishly at Melody and said, "Well, if it tastes as good as it looks, which I'm sure it will, then I may be out of a job." Going into the second bathroom, Lita called, "I'll be out in five!"

Smiling, Melody went and got Rei and Mina up and the three of them set the table. Melody smiled as Ami got out of her shower and came to sit at the table. 'She still looks tired..and something else..oh well.' Worried about Ami, Melody decided to give them all a break today.

The class loved the idea of no homework that night and laughed as they left the school. Ami smiled at Melody as they waited for Rei and Mina to get done grabbing their books and said, "Thanks for not giving us homework tonight Melody. I don't think I'll be able to stay awake for my class as it is..." 

Shocked, Melody asked, "Your going again? Tonight?" 

"I'm afraid I have to. But its only for tonight. This is our last class and we have a big exam. I hoped I studied enough..do you think 5 hours a day was enough?"

Blanching, Melody said, "Yes, I think that's enough Ami.." Smiling as Rei and Mina reached them, she asked, "So..you two coming to practice again?"

"You bet! I wonder if Sam will remember me?..Besides, if you run into Chris again, I want some ice cream!"

"Mina!..Well, I want to see you and Chris again too Melody. You two would make a great couple with his height and your..don't take this the wrong way, but your beauty. Besides he's a hunk and if you don't grab him..I will!" Laughing, Rei turned to see that Ami was already gone. "Hey..where'd Ami go?"

"Oh, she had that class again. Its her last one though..Can you guys believe she thought five hours of studying a day wasn't enough?" Laughing the three girls headed towards the ice rink...

Ami sighed as she sank into her chair at the University. 'Thank goodness this is my last class. I just feel like all my energy is being sucked right out of me...' Straightening as the professor entered the room, Ami was shocked to see that he didn't carry anything with him.

"This will be your final exam. Now everyone clear off your desks!" 

Not wanting to anger him, everyone quickly cleared off their desks and waited for further instruction.

Smiling at his weary students, he said, "Now your exam consists of this..close your eyes and stay awake. If you fall asleep you fail. Periodically I'll ask you a question and you must answer it in ten seconds or you miss that question. Now eyes closed!"

Ami wasn't to sure about this exam but she wasn't about to question her professor. Closing her eyes, she struggled to stay awake. After five minutes, she heard the snores and soft sighes of her classmates falling asleep. Startled, Ami jumped when her professor touched her shoulder. Suddenly, she felt as if all her energy were being sucked out of her..opening her eyes, Ami saw that her professor was a monster! Falling to the desk, totally exhausted, she opened her communicator and said, "Rei..Mina..help..." Then she too fell asleep on her desk.

Rei was so excited! Melody had her first amateur competition in two months and she was ready..at least in her eyes. "Melody, I don't understand why you say that was the worst practice you've had in months. Your program was flawless..." Looking at her friend, Rei wondered if Mina had caught on that her communicator was beeping. 

"I didn't feel the music. Its almost like I'm skating to the wrong song. That's a skaters worst nightmare! And my program wasn't flawless.." Blushing, Melody said, "Hey..do you guys here that bee..hey, it stopped." Shrugging her shoulders, Melody said, "Oh well..Hey lets go see Ami. I'm sure she could use our support right now." Glancing at her watch, she said, "If we hurry we can get there before she gets out for her break." Rei and Mina exchanged grateful looks and rushed off with Melody towards the University.

Shivering as they entered the University ten minutes later, Melody said softly, "Does this place seem..cold to you guys?" Seeing their nods, Melody walked to Ami's room, which she'd only seen once, and gasped. Inside was a hideous monster and it was sucking the energy out of the students. "Rei..Mina...what's going on?" Without thinking, she rushed into the room and yelled, "Ami!!"

Turning at the sound of a new voice, the monster smirked at the small girl running towards him. Holding out a hairy hand, he sent two balls of energy at the girl. One was black and meant to knock her out, the other red to suck her energy. 

Mina softly cursed as Melody dashed into the room. Softly she wispered, "Venus..Crystal..Power!" Quickly transforming, Sailor Venus ran in front of Melody and took the blast meant for her. But instead of being sucked dry of energy..she simply glowed orange. 

Melody didn't know what to think about these Sailor Scouts but they seemed to think highly of her. Tears streaming down her face, Melody crawled to Ami and grabed her hand as the blonde haired sailor continued to glow orange. Feeling her weakness, Melody closed her eyes and prayed for strength for her friend, not knowing that once again she was also glowing!

*****

Mina sighed as she sank deeper into the warm orange glow around her. 'I'm so glad that Melody is okay and that Rei is there to help Ami. I just wish it didn't have to end this way...' Suddenly a soft gentle voice filled her mind and said, "Brave soldier of Venus, you have protected my daughter well thus far. She wishes to give you a gift in return for your protection."

Turning her head to the left, Mina saw a figure all in lilac floating about ten yards from her. But the light was so bright behind the figure, she couldn't see anything but her outline. 

Listening, Mina thought she heard a familiar voice say, "Sailor Venus, you are the guardian of light. Yours is a light that can peirce the deepest darkness. Take this crystal as a token of the light you bring to my life. May it always be a light for you when darkness surounds you." 

Slowly the girl raised her hands to the sky and sent Mina a small round crystal. Glancing down, Mina saw that it was almost a copy of Rei's crystal, only her's was light orange with a silver fairy inside it. Looking at the girl as she faded back into reality, Mina said, "Thank you! I hope I will always be worthy...."

******

Ami felt a presence in her head as she slept. "Wake up, guardian of ice! You are needed to save your friend!" Slowly, Ami opened her eyes to see Mina in her sailor uniform dropping to the ground and Melody out on the ground beside her with a deathgrip on her right hand. 

Sailor Mars was having problems with the hairy yoma, and Ami knew what she had to do. Letting Melody's hand go, she quickly wispered, "Mercury...Crystal...Power!" Transforming in the blink of an eye, Sailor Mercury started towards Sailor Mars when she heard a muffled moan come from behind her.

Turning swiftly, she cried out as she saw a tall dark woman all in black picking Melody up off the floor. Seeing this, Sailor Mercury was reminded of Serena's leaving and something inside her snapped! Rushing the woman, Mercury cried, " Temple of Ice.....Shatter!" Not caring about the millions of ice particles that were heading towards the black figured woman, Mercury grabbed Melody from the startled woman's grasp and took her to a nearby window. 

Wondering what she could do to keep Melody safe, Mercury jumped when a familiar voice said, "I'll take her Ami. You go help your friends. We'll be on the roof when your done. Meet us there! " Not waiting for her okay, the man in the gray tuxedo took Melody in his arms very tenderly and flew out the window up to the rooftop. 

Sighing, Mercury knew she was going to have to find out who this masked helper was. Turning back to help Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury found that the moster was already dead and the black woman long gone from the scene. Softly she said to the other two, "We need to de-henshin and get to the roof. The same guy in the gray tuxedo just took Melody to safety on the rooftop. If she's awake we need to go get her. It's okay, he already knows our names." 

************

Sailor Venus opened her eyes to see that she was on the floor, Rei was in trouble, Ami was up and running now and was going to get Melody from the black figured woman. Feeling something hard in her hand, she looked down to see the small crystal in her hand and quickly said, "Light Fairy Power!"

Immediatelly, Mina was surrounded by a yellow cloud and a wind tore off her old fuku as a light silver rain fell on her. Her orange heels vanished and silver shoes took their place as her new fuku took shape on her body. Her shirt was now silver and her skirt was light orange and her front bow was light orange and her back bow was silver and went to her ankles. In the center of her front bow as a star pendent and in the center of the star was her fairy crystal. She wore no gloves and her hair was now hanging freely down her back except for two strands which were braided and tied together in the back forming a type of hair crown around her head. Her earings were two light orange stars and her tiara was a copy of Nova Sailor Mars' except her teardrop jewle was a light orange. Stepping out of the cloud with in soft shimmer of light, Nova Sailor Venus was ready to do battle!

Seeing the creature was hiding in the darkest shadows of the classroom, Nova Sailor Venus said, "Ha! Silly monsters should know when to stay at home. In the name of Venus I will punish you, so get a haircut!"

Howling in fury, the black hairy monster took three strides towards Nova Venus when he suddenly shrank back. Softly, Venus wispered, "Fairy Night Light!" Softly, then more brightly, her star pendant began to glow. The beam of light was centered on the monster as it slowly began to burn into ashes. Right before it fell into dust, it said two words, "Hope....Awake!" Then in a blast of cold air, he desentigrated. Turning towards Mercury, Mars, and Venus nodded and the three of them quickly de-henshined and headed for the roof. 

Ami was lost in thought as she walked up the stairs. 'Why have only those two been given power-ups? I don't understand this...who is helping them and why?' Rei and Mina didn't notice Ami's silence as they were both dicussing their experiences with the strang girl in the light and their new missions.

As they slowly walked up the final flight of stairs, the three girls heard the voices of five different men on the rooftop. 

"I don't understand why you had to interfear at all!" 

"Why did you have to stick your nose in their buisness?"

"Why not just wait until tonight and grab the..."

"SHHHHHHH!""

Suddenly, the door to the roof flew open and Ami, Rei, and Mina fell out into the twilight of the night. Blinking, the three girls saw that they were the same five men they'd seen the first night Melody had been in a yoma attack. "Who are you and what do you want?! Why did you help us protect Melody?" Ami cried! 

Smiling softly down at the still slumbering girl in his arms, the leader-or so he seemed to be- said just as softly, "We are helping you protect her because she is special." Looking up at Ami, he continued in a harder voice, "Who are we? Well, I am Nova Knight. These are my friends Cloud Knight, Light Knight, Storm Knight, and Earth Knight. What we want is to hold our mission dear to us and complete it without failing the person who sent us. Answer all your questions?"

Rei and Mina nodded their heads in agreement and watched as Melody began to stir in the Knights arms. "Please you must tell us...why are we being powered up? and who is doing the powering up?" Ashamed to admit that they had abandoned their mission five years ago, Rei blushed as she tried to get the knights to let Melody go. "I'm....are we getting a second chance at a mission?" Mina couldn't stop the tears comming to her eyes as she thought about Serena and what they had done to her. 

Seeing the hope in the two girls eyes, Nova Knight sighed and said, "You are getting your second chance. But only those who she deems worthy will be powered up. The Chancelor is very picky about earning trust. It seems you two have passed the test. Don't take that lightly." 

Looking down into Melody's beautiful pink eyes, Nova Knight softly kissed her head and said so softly that only she heard, "We'll be together soon again, Princess. Until then take heart..you've found two loyal friends and maybe...a third." Glancing at Ami, Nova Knight set Melody gently upon her feet and flew away from the rooftop with his four friends, just as the paramedics arrived and Melody fainted on the rooftop. 


	6. Who Is Princess?

Chapter 5

Who is 'Princess'

Lost in a haze of darkness, is a silence so thick you could almost see it, Melody wandered through her mind. As soft silver kisses from her eyes wet her cheeks, she softly asked the darkness, "Who am I? Why am I all alone?" In the bleak blackness stretching out before her, Melody saw a small sliver of light coming towards her. Smiling, Melody tried to walk towards the light but found she was unable to. The light was a pale pink in color and stopped about three feet in front of Melody. Softly a voice came from the depths of the light saying, "Little one do not cry. You are not alone in this place of darkness. Your friends are waiting for you to wake up. Take heart for you possess a strength even I didn't foresee. Take care and trust yourself!" Then suddenly the darkness left Melody and she was surrounded by white light.

**"Will she be okay? Why hasn't she come around yet? Ami, what's wrong with her?"**

_"Rei, I don't know. All I know is that she's not hurt she's just drained of energy. We'll just have to wait."_

**_"If you two hadn't noticed, she is awake and trying to say something."_**

**_S_**urrounded by comfort and warmth, Melody slowly opened her eyes to see four frightened faces above her. Melody tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace as she said, "Hey guys...what's going on?"

"We're so glad your okay Melody," Rei began. Mina swiftly followed with, "That was scary! When you fainted away I thought you'd been hurt. Are you okay, really?" Worried about their friend's health Ami, Mina, and Rei all looked her over as she slowly pushed herself up from the pillows.

"I'm alright Mina, truly. I am awfully tired though...why I can't say." Glancing towards Lita, Melody saw a quick flash of...what looked like relieved horror in her eyes and then it was gone. 

Lita couldn't speak for the emotion she felt clawing its way towards her throat. Blinking several times, she finally managed to grasp a hold of the threatening flood and stifled it. "Melody..." 'I don't know what to say to her. She reminds me so much of Serena when she first became my best friend. I'm so sorry Serena.' "Ready to head home?"

Wondering about the flicker of emotion that she'd seen in Lita's eyes, Melody smiled softly and said, "I'm more than ready Lita. Lets go!" So ten minutes later, with a warning from the doctor to take it easy for a few days, Melody and her friends left the hospital. 

When they had reached the parking lot, Melody heard a familiar voice behind her say, "Fancy meeting you here. Visiting a sick friend Melody?" 

Turning slowly, Melody smiled as she saw Chris standing behind her with four friends of his own. "Yes and no, you see I was the one sick and my friends came to see me. You've met Rei and Mina, but I don't think you've met Ami or Lita. Ami, Lita this is Chris. So, who's brave enough to be here with you?" Smiling mischievously, Melody was shocked at her own teasing. 'I don't even know this guy and here I am teasing him!'

'Wow! She's maturing as we speak! This could be interesting. And maybe if she's changed this much maybe there's hope for...no that will never happen Chris get over it!' "These are my brave friends," Chris said. With a mischievous look, Chris continued, "This is wacko, crazy, clumsy, and..." 

Laughing, the five girls watched as Chris was tackled by his friends and a friendly scuffled unfolded before them. After a minute or so, one of the men detached himself from the fight and said, "Please forgive our friend here. He seems to be missing a few brain cells. My name is Kevin, and these other clowns are Max, William (aka Will), and Sam." Quickly getting to their feet, the five men bowed before the girls.

Bowing elegantly, the five girls said, "Very nice to meet you, gentlemen." Stepping forward, Rei said, "Why don't you guys join us? We were just about to go get some ice cream. Interested?"

Grinning, Chris said, "Thank you. We'd be delighted." Following the girls, Chris noticed that Melody was in the rear of the pack. Grinning he caught up to her and said, "So, what happened? We're you seriously hurt?"

"No.." Melody said softly. Then she related the entire tale to the five men and, when she had finished, sighed. "I can't seem to stay out of trouble. But I couldn't leave Ami there alone. I'm lucky the Sailor Scouts or whoever where there to save my friends and me." Thinking deeply, Melody didn't realize that the other girls were now a block ahead of them, the men were looking at her and each other with new purpose, and that she had just reveled herself to total strangers.

Understanding the look in Melody's eyes as she continued to think, Chris was about to say something when Sam stepped forward. Grasping Melody's shoulder, he softly said, **"You shouldn't blame yourself Melody. It's not your fault that there are evil forces in the world that seek to harm innocent people. You've just had a run of bad luck. I mean, I think everyone in this city has been saved by the Sailor Scouts at least twice. We all need to be rescued once in a while. It is only a rare few that are as brave as Hercules and have the power to stop evil in their tracks. The scouts are some of those rare few. I can't begin to imagine everything you've been through in the past few weeks but I do know this. If your patient, eventually your skies will clear." **Squeezing her shoulder, Sam smiled and pointed. **"If we don't hurry, I fear the others will eat without us! Race you all there!"**

Melody listened as Sam spoke and let his words sink into her heavy heart. Feeling better and somehow lighter, Melody smiled at Sam and then took off ahead of the guys. "I'll see you guys there!" The men purposefully let Melody race off towards her friends. 

**"So now do you believe me? Can we tell her now? I know you guys probably didn't see it**,** but when I touched her, I connected with her. The real her! It was something else. I bet it helped her too. She's got all her energy bottled up tighter than the Hoover Dam and its wearing her out. I think that connecting with me might have eased her a little. If we don't hurry, I'm afraid that she might do something even we've never expected. What I cannot say...but something."**

"Yes, I think that our time is approaching. We must reveal ourselves to her sometime, but not yet. First she must realize who her friends are...and," Chris said with a smile, "we now have some help in this department. Kevin, will you go pick up Jessie at the airport? She'll be your little sister until the truth is revealed."

Grinning, Kevin said, "Sure, throw me on the mercy of that brat. Sure I'll go get her. At least I have a cute little sister and you guys don't. Now I'll get all the ladies." Laughing, Kevin waved to the guys and ran to the airport.

Chris smiled as Kevin raced off and waved towards the door. Just then Melody came out the door and said, "Are you guys coming? We're waiting on you to order." Laughing, she led the way to two tables pushed together in the front but the only window in the whole place. 

The ice cream shop wasn't a great place but it wasn't bad. The tables were clean, the floor was swept, and the air smelled nice. So what if the tables were a little rough, the chairs had no cushions, and the temperature in the shop was twenty degrees? Quickly sitting down with the girls, the four men laughed and talked with everyone until they had ordered their ice cream. Chris stiffened as he felt an evil presence in Tokyo but didn't let the girls feel it. His friends, however, felt it like a knife in the heart. 

Jumping to their feet as a scream filled the air, the girls looked at one another as Rei said, **"What was that?! Melody you stay here, we'll check it out okay? Back in a few!"** With a quick wink in Melody's direction, Rei, Mina, Lita, and Ami raced out of the shop and down the street.

Melody was just about to follow the girls when Chris placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll go see what's up. Please stay here Princess." Then with a quick kiss to her temple, Chris and the others raced after the girls. 

Melody was stunned! "But...why'd you call me Princess? And who is she? I've been called Princess twice now....." Melody couldn't figure out why she'd been told to stay here. Turning to ask they someone what they thought about it, Melody gasped to see that she was alone at their table...and the only person still in the shop! Stunned, she quickly followed in the girls wake as she tried to understand what was going on.

*************************

Jessie smiled as she floated down through the clouds alongside the 747. She waved to the little girl with innocent eyes who was the only one who could see her at the moment and then prepared to touch down on the ground. 'I should've worn different shoes....' Glancing down, Jessie realized that she'd worn the wrong outfit to float down to Tokyo in. Her long lilac dress was billowing softly around her and her tiara and earrings where totally from a different time than this Tokyo. Her heeled shoes were definitely the wrong choice when she could barely stand up in them, let alone land in them.

Taking a deep breath, Jessie landed softly on her feet on the center runway of the Tokyo Airport. Glancing around to make sure no one had seen her arrive, she sighed as she noted that everyone she needed were within four miles of her. Hearing her name called, she turned to the left and smiled at Kevin. Racing towards him, Jessie jumped the fence that separated the road from the runway and said softly, "So, have you missed me?" Then she hugged Kevin and said, "So are you ready to show your little sister around the town?"

Kevin grinned as he watched Jessie gracefully float down out of the clouds and land on her feet and not her face. Feeling proud for her, Kevin called her name and watched as she quickly joined him. Hugging her back, Kevin teased, "Missed you, a six-year old brat? Never." Returning her grin, Kevin quickly put Jessie into his black Dodge jeep and said, "Of course, but are you ready to meet everyone?" Hoping she'd tell him something good, Kevin stiffened as he felt a cold shift in the air.

Jessie also felt the change. "Yes, I'm ready but she's not. At least not yet...Swerve Right Now!" Watching as Kevin obeyed her without question, Jessie frowned at the black vortex of evil energy blew up the road three inches to their left. Had they not swerved, Jessie and Kevin would've been dead from all the evil energy in that vortex.

Kevin brought the car to a screeching halt and the two of them quickly jumped out of the way as a ball of black energy crashed into the jeep, totally destroying it. Kevin stared for a moment at the blackened ash that was his jeep and let out a cry of outrage. Quickly putting his hands in a prayer-like stance in front of him, Kevin said, "Your going to pay for destroying my car. Nova Storm Power!" In a whirling wind, Kevin transformed into Storm Knight. Staring into the sky, Storm Knight wondered, 'Where is this bad guy?'

Standing next to Storm Knight, Jessie wondered if Kevin made a habit of transforming in front of people in open places like the parking lot of a major airport. Sighing, Jessie pointed to the right and said, "She's sitting in mid-air right there. Who are you and what do you want?" Wondering how long she had until the sailor scouts got there, Jessie quickly felt for their energies and smiled as she called to Storm Knight softly, "She is awakening..." and then softer, "she is coming!" Smiling, Jessie began to glow a light blue color as she whispered to her princess, "May angels watch over you as you find your true self." Continuing to glow Jessie transformed into Nova Star. "My dearest Princess, may you find peace and happiness in the upcoming awakening." Closing her eyes she joined her knight in the fight for the airport.

*******************************

Racing through alleys and streets, Melody smiled as she caught site of her friends racing into a nearby abandoned temple. 'What are they doing? Something isn't right here.' Following her friends inside, she hid behind a towering oak, as they did something amazing! 

*******************

_"Mercury Crystal Power!"_

**_"Jupiter Crystal Power!"_**

**_"Light Fairy Power!"_**

**"Flame Fairy Power!"**

In a flash of brilliant lights and clouds, Rei, Mina, Lita, and Ami transformed into the Sailor Scouts. _"Scouts, the enemy is at the Tokyo Central Airport. We need to hurry because there are two other energies there. One is familiar and the other is new. We may be fighting two enemies here." _ Following Sailor Mercury's advice, the four girls quickly joined hands and teleported to the airport. 

Shocked over what she'd just seen, Melody staggered out of the temple. 'They're the Sailor Scouts. That's why they were so worried about that news coverage. That's also why I never see them in any of the battles that I'm in, because they're the ones who always protect me...' Without thinking about it, Melody continued to walk towards the airport. Shocked out of her daze by a little girl bumping into her, Melody realized that she'd reached the airport.

Walking towards the area that seemed blackened and torn, Melody looked skyward as she heard a familiar voice say, _"Melody Heads Up!" _Jumping to the left, Melody smiled as a hole about the size of a baseball appeared in the pavement to her right. Smiling, Melody turned towards Sailor Mercury who was running towards her and said, "Thanks...Ami look out!" 

Rushing forwards, Melody pushed Sailor Mercury out of the way of an oncoming black ball of energy. Taking the hit herself, Melody cried out as the blast seared her skin and tore her clothes. As she fell, Melody winced as Ami caught her and lowered her to the ground. _"Why did you do that?...And how do you know who I am?"_ "I saw you in the temple today, all of you. It's okay Ami, I'm fine with it. Just kick some butt okay?" Smiling, Melody gave up the battle to stay awake and fell into blissful darkness.

Ami didn't know what to say. Melody had just saved her and she'd known that the four of them had been keeping this information from her. She wasn't sure what to think of all of this, all she knew was the she was now royally pissed. Leaving Melody lying on the pavement behind her, Ami gave the laughing yoma a glare that would have frozen the center of the Earth. As the yoma advanced towards her, Ami softly said, _"Just try it, and see what happens. Your not going to hurt my friend any more. She's too important to me to let that happen." _

Searing, the yoma sent another blast of energy at Ami. She didn't ever blink. Gritting her teeth, Ami took the hit and stood her ground. Nova Star watched all of this from the air. She was shocked and surprised at Melody's action and doubly shocked at Sailor Mercury's reaction. 'They've come to care for her as they did their own princess. This changes everything...' Floating down, Nova Star held up her hand to the five knights who were helping the Sailor Scouts up. Signaling that she didn't need their help, Nova Star walked towards the yoma and Ami. But before she could reach either of them, Sailor Jupiter raced in and knelt by Melody. 

As Nova Star got closer to the scene, she heard Jupiter's voice saying, **_"Melody, talk to me. Are you okay? Melody?"_** Standing, Sailor Jupiter joined Sailor Mercury in her stand against the yoma. Star was proud of the scouts. 'Maybe they have learned from their mistakes...what's this?' 

The yoma didn't know what to think about this turn of events. Now there were two wimpy scouts blocking him from his target and they weren't crumbling like they were just two minutes ago, and now the two standing against him were glowing lilac? 

Ami and Lita were startled when they felt a presence in their collective minds. "Brave soldiers, you have proven your loyalty beyond any doubt. Please be true to my daughter for she will need your help more than ever. She has gifts for you, please accept them." Then a strangely familiar voice said softly, "Sailor Mercury, you are the guardian of water. The Earth is covered in water and the currents of the water are strong and deep. Sailor Jupiter, you are the guardian of thunder. Combined with water, you can create a storm that will drive evil from this place. Be strong, both of you and protect the earth who's powers you control." 

Feeling as though they'd been gone for a month, Ami and Lita saw the fight through shocked eyes. Then suddenly, each felt a light weight settle in their right hand. Instinctively knowing what to do, they smiled and said, _"Ice Fairy Power!" **"Earth Fairy Power!"**_

Immediately, Ami was surrounded by a light blue cloud and ice formed around her entire body. When the ice shattered, she was in a different fuku. Her shoes were now light blue heels, and her skirt was light blue with a dark blue bow and her shirt was dark blue with a light blue bow. In the center of her front bow was a dolphin pendent and in the center was her light blue fairy crystal. Her tiara was a copy of Mina's and Rei's but her teardrop jewel was light blue. Her earrings were light blue dolphins and she now had a silver bracelet on her right wrist with a small light green stone tree on it. With a sound like an ocean wave, Nova Sailor Mercury stepped out of the cloud of ice ready to fight!

Lita also went under a transformation. Only she was swallowed up by the ground in a flash of lightning. Under the ground, Lita felt the Earth's warmth surround her as her fuku changed. Her skirt was now light green and had a black back bow while her shirt was black with a light green front bow. Her earrings were light green trees and in the middle of her front bow was a tree pendent with her light green fairy crystal at the center of the tree. Her tiara was like Ami's only her jewel was light green and on her left wrist was a silver bracelet with a small light blue stone dolphin on it. Then the earth erupted and Nova Sailor Jupiter was ready for action. 

Nova Star was pleasantly surprised with this new turn of events. 'She's powered those two up...wait a minute!' Noticing Nova Sailor Venus and Nova Sailor Mars's smiles, Star also noted that they too were powered up. 'She's powered them all up without realizing who she is. I didn't think that was possible. We were sent here to find the chancellor of hope, and to do that we need our Fairy Princess...but maybe we should leave her alone...' Leaving the Earth Sailors to fight the yoma, Star walked straight to Melody and knelt beside her. Hearing rather than seeing the five knights come up to form a protective ring around them, Star was surprised to hear an angry female voice say, **"You lay even one finger on her and you'll not live to see tomorrow. That's a promise not a threat."** Looking up into the angry eyes of Nova Sailor Mars and Nova Sailor Venus, Nova Star smiled softly as she said, "Do not be afraid sailor scouts of Earth. I am here to help her, just as the knights are. If you do not let me help her soon though, she may not be able to return to us. Will you allow me to help your friend?" Waiting, Nova Star knew this moment was critical to the success of the mission and for the first time in her young life, she was worried about the outcome.

Mina didn't know what to do. First, Melody enters their lives and makes them all happy again, and now they had to decide if they could trust her life to the hands of a stranger. Looking at Rei, Mina knew when she came to an answer. When Rei looked at her, Mina smiled and nodded her head. **"Go ahead, but we're watching you." **Nova Star nodded her head and softly said, "Fairy Star Renewal." Rei and Mina watched as Melody and this new scout were outlined in a rainbow light, and as Nova Knight knelt down and held Melody's hand with an expression that almost looked like concern...

********Meanwhile********

Nova Sailor Mercury and Nova Sailor Jupiter glared their hatred and anger at the bulky airplane-shaped yoma. _"You overgrown mechanical snake, your going to pay for all the damage you've caused." **"Your also going to regret messing with an innocent who's only concern was her friend's welfare. Planet Fairy...."**_ Touching Nova Sailor Mercury's bracelet with her own, the two sailor scouts began to glow with a blue-green flame. _"Storm Power!" _Raising their now linked bracelets, Mercury and Jupiter threw a blue-green blast of energy at the yoma which disintegrated with a crash of ocean wave and thunder. Turning towards each other, they laughed with seer joy at their new connection. Hearing a soft grown to their left, they turned to find Melody slowly opening her eyes.

Melody blinked several times as she opened her eyes. Hearing Lita's voice from far away, Melody gave the group a weary smile and said, "I'll be okay...I'm just a little burnt right now. Guess that's what I get for trying to be like a piece of toast huh?" Everyone laughed at Melody's joke in seer relief. 

"We were so worried about you Melody. Why did you run out in front of a blast like that?" Rei still was shocked at her reaction, and the fact that she'd heard Melody call Sailor Mercury, Ami.

"I did it because I knew Sailor Mercury didn't know it was behind her." Looking directly at Rei, Melody knew exactly when Rei figured out she knew who she was. Turning her gaze inward, Melody mused, "The one thing I want to know is, why did Chris call me princess?" 

Jessie was shocked to learn that Chris had called Melody by her true self so soon. Seeing his crimson face, she knew it had just been a slip. Standing with the knights, Nova Star said, "Well now that you're safe, we'll be on our way. See ya!" And with that, the six of them raced off into the deepening twilight.

Melody didn't exactly understand what was going on. She did know one thing, she wasn't going to the hospital this time. "Guys, lets go home. I'll explain everything to you then, okay Rei?" Nodding her head, Rei saw how wore out Melody was. It wasn't surprising either considering the blast she'd just lived through. 'She's as tough as Serena, but as frail as Hotaru...what an interesting combination...' Then the six girls walked home, where they all dreamed of the past...and the sailor scouts remembered a long ago prophecy. A prophecy about a chancellor of hope...and a little girl called the star of light....


	7. Crystal Gifts

Four girls sat in the living room on Saturday, as they all though about the past few weeks. This was how Luna found the inner scouts at eleven o'clock. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you all be out looking for the enemy?"  
  
Four soft, "SHHHHHHHH!" made Luna pause and look at the little girl lying on the couch. Eyes huge in her head, Luna softly whispered, "What is Jessie doing here!? Shouldn't she be with her brother Kevin?!"  
  
"Yes, Luna. Quite frankly, we don't know how she got here. We all got up about nine and came in here to talk about Melody finding out our secret and found her here. Asleep on the couch. What were we suppose to do? Wake her up and send her home?"  
  
"No, you girls were right to let her sleep. I wonder how she got into your apartment, Lita."  
  
"Don't look at me. I don't know how she got here, but I'm worried about Melody. She hasn't been up all day and its almost noon! She never sleeps this late! In fact, she's usually the first one up on Saturday and gone to practice when we do get up. But today she's still in bed. Dead asleep."  
  
Just then, the phone rang. Mina raced to get it before it woke Jessie up and said softly,  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi Mina? This is Sam, Melody's coach? Is she there?"  
  
"Yes she is but she's still sleeping. I'm sorry she missed practice today, but I didn't have the heart to wake her up. You see, she ran into some problems at the airport the other day and is kind of burnt."  
  
"OH, I'm so sorry! Is she okay?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Alright then, thanks Mina! Bye."  
  
Hanging up the phone, Mina jumped when it rang again!  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi, this is Kevin. Remember meeting me and my little sister, Jessie? I'm sorry to bother you this early but have you seen her? I though she might be with Melody."  
  
"Yes, she's here Kevin. But we don't know how she got here or how she got in. You see we got in really late last night and locked the door. But when we got up this morning, she was here asleep on our couch."  
  
"OH! I'm so sorry about that! I'll come get her right away!"  
  
"Its no problem, really."  
  
"Thanks Mina! Oh, the other guys want to know if its okay if they come over too?"  
  
"Sure, the more the merrier!"  
  
"Okay, bye!"  
  
Hanging up the phone, Mina quickly told the girls they were going to have company. Jumping up, the girls quickly dressed and did hair and make-up while one of them kept an eye on the sleeping Jessie.  
  
About twenty minuets later, the doorbell rang. Lita quickly opened the door and let all 5 guys in. "Wow Sam! You must have hustled over to Kevin's pretty quick."  
  
"Actually, I called from Kevin's. We were all looking for Jessie when you guys said she was here."  
  
"Uh, guys!"  
  
Hearing a shocked voice behind them, the six turned to find Mina, Ami, and Rei pinned against the wall by air! Jessie was awake and standing on the couch with an odd look in her eyes. They seemed distant and unfocused and she softly said, "Where is my sister!?"  
  
Just then, a loud "BOOM!" came from Melody's room and Jessie sagged to the floor, panting heavily. Ami, Rei, and Mina fell to the floor in ungraceful heaps. "What was that all about!? Jessie how did you do that?!"  
  
Kevin and Chris quickly exchanged glances and then Chris said softly, "If you'll wait a minute, we'll explain everything."  
  
Walking back to Melody's room, Chris entered and came out carrying a sweaty, but still sleeping Melody. Her breathing was harsh and her face looked troubled as she softly said, "No.you can't!"  
  
Setting Melody on the couch next to Jessie, Chris smiled at the six-year- old and said, "It'll be alright Jessie. She's just remembering a few things."  
  
Jessie smiled softly and said, "Really?" then lay down and cuddled into Melody's side and sighed. Chris turned to find four very angry girls staring at him. Glancing at the four guys, Chris saw that for now, he was on his own for explanations.  
  
"Alright, Melody is not who you think she is. She isn't even who she thinks she is." Sighing, Chris said, "This is going to take a while."  
  
"Go right ahead, we're not leaving until you tell us what is going on."  
  
Settling into the only empty chair left, Chris began his story.  
  
"Long ago, farther back than any of you could ever remember, there lived a queen who lived on a forgotten star called Thundra. This queen was young and wise beyond her years, and she married a young prince from the moon. This formed a bond between the two kingdoms, the Moon and the Solar, and when the rulers of both kingdoms bore their first children, both kingdoms celebrated.  
  
The two children were beautiful girls, but the Solar Princess died a year later at the hands of the Black Knight. The Solar Rulers were devastated and cut all ties to the Moon kingdom for seven years. Then, a miracle happened and the Solar Kingdom was again blessed with a Solar Princess.  
  
By this time, all of you were ten years old and already good friends with Princess Serenity." Smiling at their shocked faces, Chris continued with a nod for Rei who mouthed the words, "Are you the knights?"  
  
"Since there was joy, in our kingdom again, ties with the Moon Kingdom were quickly reopened. There was a huge ball to commemorate the occasion. That was when you first saw, Princess Melody. She was a happy child, and everyone loved her. Ami, you made it your personal mission to teach the brat not to twirl her hair with her fingers! By the time she was seven, she could talk and frequently was found in the middle of one of your circles talking up a storm and making the five of you cry with laughter.  
  
The Solar kingdom was again blessed with a child, the Princess Jessica. She was much more outgoing than her sister, but the two were inseparable. Wherever one was found, the other could be found. Jessica hated her name, and so Mina, with her huge heart, took pity on the little princess and gave her the nickname, Jessie."  
  
Pausing to let all this information sink in, Chris saw that the girls were staring at Melody and Jessie as if they had grown two heads! Laughing softly, he said, "Is it so hard to believe? I mean, who would have thought any of us would be Sailor Scouts and Knights?"  
  
Put in that light, each of the girls relaxed and turned back to Chris with questions in their eyes. Ami was the first with, "How is it that we didn't remember any of this when we became scouts?"  
  
"That was a safety precaution, in case any of you were captured. But, let me tell you the rest of the story."  
  
"Just about this time, Princess Serena fell in love with Prince Darien. Melody knew about this because she was constantly following Serena around the palace without anyone knowing it. Melody and Jessie thought this was very funny because the two seemed to become hot every time they saw each other. Well, to make this story shorter, two years later, the Moon Kingdom was attacked by the negaverse. You know what happened there. What you don't know is that we were there as well, fighting by your side. For you see, Melody had gone missing that morning.  
  
She'd come to see Serena because her mother and father had told her she was betrothed to a prince from Heart. Melody didn't know what to make of a betrothal and was very scared because she was told she'd have to meet her betrothed that night at the Ball. As the battle raged, my friends and I looked for the little princess but couldn't find her. Then, our hearts stopped as we all watched Princess Serena and Prince Darien die together. What caught our throats, was the flash of lilac hair that was barely seen beyond Serena's white gown.  
  
Before any of us could react, Queen Serenity sent us all to the future, where we've been looking for our princess." Chris took a deep breath as he tried to hold back the emotion that was clogging his throat. "Chris, it wasn't your fault what happened." A soft voice said. Looking up, Chris saw all the girls smiling at him. "Thanks Ami. But my tale is not finished yet."  
  
"As you know we were all reborn on earth. None of us knowing about our past until evil arrived and we were needed to protect our planet. At the age of 15, I met Sam for the first time in Gym class. We became fast friends, and then one night he spent the night at my house. We were playing an innocent game of stare out when it happened.  
  
Both of us, felt a jolt down our spines and fell to the floor in dead faints. While sleeping, each of us relived the past and remembered who we really were. It's a slow painful process. And its not pleasant reliving your mistakes.but we woke up the next morning and knew we had to find our princess. During the next year we met the others and all of us have relived our moments with the others.  
  
That's what is happening to Melody right now. I don't know whose memories she's reliving, because it's usually with someone.wait a minute. Jessie? Did you see Melody this morning?"  
  
Everyone turned to look at the little girl, who opened her tired eyes and said, "Hmm? Yes."  
  
Nodding, Chris sighed and said, "Okay then, we might as well get comfortable. As soon as she gets up she'll need to do this with all of us. Its best not to drag it out. You inner scouts should enjoy this. Since you have experience with Serena and Luna this should be a piece of cake."  
  
Now that he was through talking, Chris moved to the floor and sat near Melody. As the Scouts and Knights talked, Chris watched Melody for any change in her. Holding her hand tenderly, Chris softly swore, "I will protect you this time Princess. I won't fail you again."  
  
Mina nodded her head towards Chris, as she and the others talked quietly. "He cares for her, doesn't he?"  
  
"Yes," Kevin said, "very much. That's part of his problem. You see, what he didn't tell you was that he's the prince she was betrothed too. He'd been watching her for some time and had grown very fond of the little Melody. She just thought he was a boy from Heart. She never understood that he was a prince. Its funny for she never told him, she was a princess. I think, Chris sees her running to the moon as a sign that she didn't like him. But I know she did, for she told me. Melody and I were very close friends, but I was sworn never to tell anyone that she liked him more than she should."  
  
"OH, that's so sad! Maybe this is their second chance as well."  
  
"I don't know, for you see. Our enemy, is someone you all love very dearly.Dar."  
  
"Quick! She's coming around!"  
  
Rushing to the couch, Mina wondered who the knights were fighting. As Melody slowly opened her eyes, the first person she saw was Chris. Softly she asked, "What are you doing here?" Then she felt a warm body pressed to her, and looked down. There still half asleep on her, was Jessie. Smiling softly, Melody forgot anyone else was there and said, "Jessica?.Jessica wake up." Laughing at the brat, Melody sat up and hugged her as she said, "Jessica, if you don't wake up, I'll tell mom that you don't want breakfast."  
  
"Yes, I do." was the soft reply. Jessie looked up through sleep-clouded eyes to see Melody smiling down at her. "You.remember me?"  
  
"Yes brat. I do." Wiping her sisters eyes, Melody turned to the group and said, "Guys.I think I have some explaining to do. But." before she could finish, Melody met the smiling eyes of the Inner Scouts and a jolt ran through all the girls and they fell into memories.  
  
"Well, I guess we'd better make some tea. This is going to take all day." Smiling at Kevin, Chris gently put Melody and Jessie back on the couch and put each of the other girls in chairs.  
  
Floating through memories of parties, laughter, pain and sorrow, the girls slowly came back to reality one by one. Melody came last of all, being the one who had to remember everything. Groaning, she slowly opened her eyes to find a cup of hot tea placed before her. She also heard someone softly say, "Don't look at anyone. Just drink your tea. We'll answer all your questions later."  
  
Nodding her head, Melody gratefully drank her tea and closed her eyes. Flashes of color still danced across her vision in the darkness. Opening her eyes, Melody smiled and looked at Rei who was seated across from her. "Well," she said to the smiling Rei, "I guess we are the perfect friends! We get into and out of trouble so easily when we work together!" Laughing, the seven girls smiled and relaxed for a few minutes. Looking at the clock, Melody blanched when she saw it was four o'clock! "Man, Sam's going to kill me." When she could see without seeing double, Melody looked towards the kitchen to see if someone could hand her the phone, and saw Kevin, Max, Will, and Sam standing in the kitchen doorway. Feeling a familiar jolt run through her, Melody groaned as she was once again lost in memories.  
  
Chris and the girls quickly put the guys in chairs before they too were lost to the blackness. "This is interesting. Melody seems to be connecting easier each time. But each time she connects it takes her longer to get back. You're the only one left now Chris." Ami said aloud as she talked with Mina.  
  
Chris silently nodded and said nothing. Moving to the window, he stared out into the darkening night as he thought about Melody. 'What if she blames me for what happened?' Jumping when he felt a small hand enter his own, Chris looked down to see Jessie looking deeply into his eyes. "Don't worry Chris," she said softly. "My sister doesn't hold grudges, and you might be surprised what you learn about her. Have a little faith."  
  
Smiling, Chris knelt down and hugged the six-year-old and said, "Thanks." Then the two of them sat staring out as the stars slowly formed in the darkening night, while Melody and the Knights waltzed down memory lane.  
  
Five hours later, Melody once again opened her eyes. Reluctantly, she softly said, "Okay, who's next?" Knowing deep in her heart the only one left to her. Getting up, Melody winced as she looked at the clock. 'Nine o'clock. Not good.' Walking towards the window, Melody gasped when she saw everyone asleep all over the room. 'They all waited up for me. They're such loyal friends.and I betrayed them all.' Looking down at the final two forms by the window, Melody noticed that only one of them was asleep.  
  
Chris looked into Melody's tear stained face and saw the sorrow that was written in her eyes. Gently putting Jessie on the couch, Chris motioned for Melody to follow him and the two went out on the balcony.  
  
Feeling the night air bite into their skin, the two looked at each other with hesitation and worry. Each had secrets they didn't want to share, but each knew that all would be revealed in the memory regain. Finally, when Chris noticed that Melody was about to faint on her feet from exhaustion, he said, "Why don't we wait until tomorrow?"  
  
Smiling, Melody said, "I think that's a great idea. I just have so much bouncing around my head right now, I don't know if I could handle anymore. But I don't want to go back inside."  
  
Knowing the feeling, Chris softly said, "Then lets stay out here." Sitting on a lounge chair, Chris motioned for Melody to come sit in the chair beside his. Smiling, the two sat in silence and watched the stars as they both fell asleep.  
  
An hour before dawn, Chris woke up to a smothered sob and jumped to his feet. Blinking, he saw Melody with her back towards him crying. Not saying a word, Chris moved to Melody and touched her shoulder. Opening his mouth to ask what was wrong, he couldn't stop Melody from turning into his arms. As his arms closed around her, comfortingly, the two felt a painful jolt run down their spines as they fell to the concrete clutching each other. That was where Jessie found them an hour later, and she sat down to wait for them while the others slept. Softly she said, "This is your chance to start over. I hope you take it this time."  
  
********* Melody smiled as she looked at her new dress for Serena's ball tomorrow night. Laughing, she felt the soft silk fabric and wondered how her mother had known her favorite color was lilac. Talking softly to herself, Melody wondered, "Mom said this was for a special occasion, but Serena has a ball every year this time. I wonder what's so special about this one." Hearing a knock at her door, Melody went to answer it and found her mother and father standing there. "May we come in?"  
  
*** Chris stood in the gardens watching the brat pick flowers for her mother. Stepping close, he said, "Aren't you a bit young to be doing that?" Laughing at Jessie's shocked face, Chris said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."  
  
"Your not suppose to be here today. Mommy and Daddy have bad news for Melody. She's been crying all day!"  
  
"Crying? Why, what did they tell her?"  
  
"I don't know if I'm suppose to tell you but Melody's got a betrothal. She's got to marry and she's meeting him at tomorrow's ball."  
  
"Thanks runt." Chris waved to Jessie as he slowly walked out of the garden and to the private balcony of Princess Melody. Climbing up the ivy that clung to her wall, Chris quickly reached her window and softly tapped the glass. Hearing a soft gasp from inside, Chris waited as Melody's face quickly peaked out, saw who it was, and opened the window.  
  
Helping Chris in, Melody smiled watery at her friend and went back to sit on her bed. Chris knew something was up when she didn't say a word for five minutes. Chris watched his friend closely for a minute more before he realized she was still crying, but now they were silent tears.  
  
Walking over to the bed, Chris sat down next to Melody and pulled her into his arms. Softly, he asked, "Melody, what's wrong? I can't bear to see you cry like this."  
  
Melody could only sob into his chest for a few minutes, and when the answer came, it tore his heart into pieces. "My parents just told me who I'm going to marry. But.I don't want to marry him! My heart is already taken by another, and there's nothing I can do about it." Sobbing softly, Melody cried into her friend's chest as he gently rocked her.  
  
'So its true. She does have feelings for Darien.I had hoped. I guess it wasn't meant to be.' "Hush now, I'll make it right. I promise. You'll marry the man who holds your heart, and no one else." Looking down into Melody's red watery eyes, Chris smiled when she said, "You really mean it? Promise?"  
  
With his heart breaking in two, Chris nodded his head and said, "I swear it, Melody." Then he stood up and said, "But no more tears now. Tomorrow night, you'll be free of your betrothal." Then with a soft smile, and a look in his eyes that made Melody wonder if he knew her secret, Chris left her room the way he came.  
  
'Oh, I hope Chris can pull this off. I don't want to marry a prince from Heart. I want to marry Chris! I want a love like Serena and Darien. Hey! Maybe Serena can help me. I'll leave early for the ball tomorrow and.' With devious thoughts cruising through her head, Melody wiped her eyes and went out to plan.  
  
The next night, Melody was about to leave for the ball when a message came saying her sister wanted to see her in their private garden by the sea cliff. Knowing she was just trying to help, Melody sighed and rushed to see what her sister could want.  
  
As she turned into the garden, Melody gasped at the sight of Jessie, bloody and unconscious, in the arms of a woman with flaming red hair. "Who are you and what did you do to my sister!"  
  
Laughing the woman said, "Who I am is not important, young one. What is important is that you help me find the Chancellor of Hope. For if you don't, your sisters fish bait!" Seeing the defiant look in Melody's eyes, the woman tossed Jessie into the air and let her fall into the ocean. "NO! Don't do it! JESSIE!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Dropping to her knees, Melody did an unforgivable act. Singing, in a language long forgotten, Melody called on the chancellor to save her sister. Blacking out, Melody heard an evil voice say, "So that's who the chancellor is.who would have thought!"  
  
Groaning, Melody opened her eyes much later to see that she was in a black room. Trying to get up, she found that she was tied to the floor and that she had a guest in the room with her. Crying at the site of her sister hurt, Melody's anger flared and the whole room began to shake. Suddenly, a voice filled the room and said, "No, no, no. If you bring down my palace, you will kill your sister. So pipe down and watch me destroy the moon kingdom with the Chancellor's power, that thanks to you, I am in complete control of!" Crying, Melody watched as the attack on the Moon Kingdom began. She was shocked to find that all of her friends, including Chris were Sailor Scouts! They fought bravely, but Melody knew they didn't have a chance. Then she saw Serena and Darien fighting together. Seeing her own enemy hurting Serena, something inside Melody snapped! Ignoring the pain and blood she was spilling, Melody pulled her arms free of the chains that held her captive on the floor. Picking Jessie up, Melody screamed in anger and teleported herself to the Moon Palace just as her own prison erupted and exploded with some unknown power.  
  
When she opened her eyes on the Moon, Melody put Jessie in a safe place and went to find the red haired woman. Just as she spied her target, Melody saw Prince Darien being taken by a horrible shadow monster. Jumping from the balcony, Melody saw Princess Serena follow her idea and the two raced for Darien. Just as Serena's fingers touched Darien's, the red haired woman spotted Melody and shouted, "You little monster! You destroyed my palace! Shadow, kill her now!" Then all was darkness. Just as she felt herself falling away, Melody thought, 'I've betrayed them all, I've killed them all.'  
  
Chris fell to his knees as he watched Serena and Darien die together. He felt time stand still as everyone looked at the fallen couple. When he thought he could stand no more, Chris turned to look at the cause of this death and stopped cold! There floating dead beside the Moon Princess was Melody!  
  
He heard his friends calling him, telling him to move for the red woman was aiming directly for him, when a bright white light surrounded them all. As his eyes closed, Chris heard a voice say, "Let them go to the future and start anew." His final thought before darkness was, 'I failed her. I broke my promise.'  
  
******  
  
Lita sighed and stretched as she slowly opened her eyes. Looking around, she wondered why she was sleeping in the living room, when the events of yesterday caught up with her. Gasping, Lita looked for everyone and found them all sitting on the balcony. Walking quickly to the open window, Lita knew why. There on the floor, were Chris and Melody, holding tight to each other like if they let go, the world would end.  
  
"Morning everyone. How long have they been like that?"  
  
"No body knows. Jessie was up first at dawn and they were like that then. Its noon now. Do you think we should take them inside?"  
  
"No, We need to leave them. I think they're almost done. Look!"  
  
Mina, Ami, and Lita all peered down as the two began to cry soft crystal tears. Rei, Jessie, and the four men nodded their heads. "They'll be up soon. Chris before Melody. Why don't we move them into the house now." Everyone nodded, and Max and Kevin quickly separated the two. Kevin picked up Melody and set her on the couch, Max got Chris and set him in a chair. It was a mutual agreement by all to leave them there, and so the nine of them traipsed into the kitchen for breakfast. Soon the smell of frying bacon, and baking bread filled the air.  
  
Chris groaned softly as he slowly opened his eyes. 'That was harder than I thought it would be. Ouch, I need an Advil.' Looking around, Chris saw that he was no longer outside and Melody was no longer in his arms. Worried that something had happened to her, Chris sighed when he saw she was still out on the couch. Sniffing the air, Chris' stomach gave a growl, as he smelled his favorite bread cooking.  
  
Getting slowly to his feet, Chris felt a soft weight in his pocket. Shrugging his shoulders, Chris went to grab a plate and was surrounded by nine worried faces as soon as he rounded the corner. Smiling at them all, Chris grabbed a plate and then said, "Okay, let me eat first then I'll talk!"  
  
There was mutual bad grumbling about this suggestion but they let him eat in peace. When he had finished, Chris quickly explained how he'd waited up for Melody and how she'd not wanted to remember any more that night. He explained how they'd both fallen asleep outside and to waking to her soft crying. When the girls heard of how Melody and Chris had started their memory walk, they cringed with pain.  
  
Nodding his head, Chris said, "I wouldn't be surprised if Melody sleeps the whole day. She's been through hell the past day. I think she's earned a rest." Everyone agreed and set about the table talking and laughing at the memories they all had now. Pranks by the knights to the scouts, old teachers, and secret crushes were all coming out in the open when a soft voice said, "Hey guys."  
  
Heads turned and mouths stood open at the site of Melody standing in the kitchen doorway. She looked bruised and battered and there were new shadows in her eyes but she was smiling at them all. Giggling at their shocked faces, Melody said, "What? Do you really think I'm that big of a wimp?" Seeing the bacon and bread, Melody waltzed over to the oven and softly said, "Gotcha!"  
  
Laughing, everyone hugged Melody and pestered her with questions about what she remembered until she'd had enough. "Guys! Can I eat please? I'm starving!" Jessie laughed and said, "Your worse than Serena!" That started a new round of laughter and the day was soon wasted away with the sharing of stories about the past day. The knights pestered the scouts about past battles and the scouts pestered the knights with questions about their enemies until Jessie fell asleep in Melody's arms.  
  
Taking that as their cue, the guys all stood up and said goodbye to the girls. Walking Chris to the door, Melody blushed red as she said, "So, what do we do now?" Chris shrugged and said, "Take Queen Serenity's orders and live our lives." Feeling something burning his leg, Chris reached into his pocket and turned white as a ghost.  
  
Melody was scared and asked, "What's wrong Chris!?"  
  
Shaking, Chris said, "Nothing. Just a bad memory. Goodnight, Princess." Kissing Melody on the cheek, Chris quickly walked out of the room and down the stairs, leaving a shocked and saddened Melody behind for the scouts to deal with.  
  
When he caught up with the other knights, Chris quickly pulled them into an alley and pulled the object out of his pocket. The other knights grew as white as Chris when they saw what he held in his hand. "I thought that was lost long ago?" Max softly said.  
  
"It was," said Will.  
  
"The question now," Sam said, "is how did it get into Chris' pocket and who does it belong to?"  
  
Chris shook his head and stared at the crystal in his hand. It didn't look like much, only a small crystal fairy incased in a clear light blue heart. Chris knew who the crystal belonged to. "Guys."  
  
Just then a scream filled the night and set the knights hair on end. Turning back, they all saw a sight they'd never thought to see again. A dark haired man holding Melody in a death grip. "Hello boys, did you think I'd forget her as well? Now we have the key to the chancellor of hope. See you in hell!" As the two vanished from site, the five men saw Jessie step out into the air.  
  
Hearing her soft voice drifting in the wind, Chris cringed as Jessie's eyes locked with his. "Melody, you still do not understand your past. Thankfully, someone you love has a brain, if he'll use it."  
  
Nodding his head, Chris floated up to Jessie with the knights behind him. The sailors quickly joined them, each wondering what Jessie had meant by her mysterious words.  
  
Chris opened his hand and showed everyone the crystal. "I didn't understand but now I do. Melody isn't the keeper of the information to the chancellor of hope. She is the chancellor. But our enemies don't know that and that is our advantage. We also have the first of three treasures we must have to save Melody." Blushing, Chris recited,  
  
"A crystal gift from long ago, The first of three you'll need. To seal the demon down below, To let all love be freed.  
  
A tiny heart with a little pal, A shiny chain to match, And a place you'll need a towel, Will hold the gates latch.  
  
So now, brave hero, this is your task, Should you fail, it will be your last.  
  
Take nine friends with you, To find one who is frail, All of you be true, And this finish the tale."  
  
Jessie looked at Chris and smiled. "I remember the day Melody wrote you that poem. I think even then she knew what was coming."  
  
Chris nodded and said, "I think your right Jessie. So tomorrow, we start our search for the final two treasures." Everyone nodded and walked back into Lita's apartment. By unspoken agreement, they were a team now and wouldn't be separated until Melody was back! 


	8. Earth and Fairy Unite!

Chapter 8  
  
Earth and Fairy Unite!  
  
"I just don't see how this could have happened! I mean, Melody was in the house and he just took her!" Ami paced worriedly back and forth in front of the broken glass door, typing furiously on her data computer. "Okay, we  
all just remembered who Melody is and what part she played in the past. We're all pretty beat but still, how could we have missed that much evil  
entering the house?!"  
  
Rei gently put a hand on Ami's shoulder and softly said, "We weren't paying attention. We were all caught up in old memories and didn't listen to what Melody had been saying. Remember the first day we met Melody? In the café she said, "I'm happy with my life and I wouldn't change it for anything."  
I know she'll be okay, we just have to stay together and think calmly." Smiling, Rei turned to the group and said, "Okay, first things first. Was  
that DARIEN I just saw kidnapping Melody?"  
  
"Yea, that did look like Darien. I didn't want to say anything in case it was just my eyes. What is Darien doing kidnapping people?" Mina looked over at Kevin and saw him looking sheepishly at Sam and said in a shocked  
voice, "You guys knew he was evil? And you didn't tell us!"  
  
"Mina it's not that simple.."  
  
"What do you mean it's not that simple? Darien used to be a part of our  
team. He's.almost family to us. Don't you think."  
  
"And that's exactly why they didn't tell you, Mina. That's why none of us told you. You all have a personal relationship and feelings for Darien. He's our enemy and we didn't want to hurt you girls with the knowledge that  
he'd gone to the other side." Chris looked at all the girl's faces and  
sighed. Looking at Lita's eyes, Chris knew she felt betrayed and swore softly. Feeling a soft hand on his waist, Chris looked down into Jessie's  
soft pleading eyes and sat down.  
  
Turning to the whole group, Jessie softly said, "I know you all feel a little betrayed and hurt right now so your all going to listen to what I have to say. You all remember Small Lady and how she came from the future,  
correct? Well what Sailor Pluto neglected to tell you was that because you'd seen your future that future had to change. You weren't making the  
decisions you would have made had you not known the outcome of those decisions." Seeing Ami's confused yet eager look, and Mina's 'wha?' look, Jessie smiled and said, "Let me give you an example. Ami, if I told you  
that your decision to stay with the sailor scouts instead of going to America to study medicine in two weeks would cause Mina to get interested  
in medicine and become a nurse, would you leave or stay?"  
  
Looking at Ami's shocked face, Mina said, "Ami your going to study medicine in America in two weeks? How can you do that? We're already down to four  
scouts how can we manage with just three?"  
  
"Chill Mina, I already wrote the school to say I couldn't come but how did you know about my trip Jessie?...and you know if I knew all that I would  
stay to help Mina."  
  
"Exactly! I knew because in the future where Small Lady is born, you did  
leave and study medicine in America. Not only that, but five years ago  
instead of kicking Serena out of the scouts because she was late to battles, all four of you and Darien helped her. You particularly helped her by leaving to study, because you left: Serena had to grow up and she became the Queen you'd all been trying for so long to make her be. All it  
took was a little patience and a little time. Instead, you took it for granted that the future was set and tried to force Serena to grow up before she was ready. That caused her to be resentful and resulted in her leaving the scouts and the current problems facing you today. I'm not trying to sound harsh; I'm just saying that the future had to change because you had changed. You were no longer the carefree sailor scouts; you were sailor scouts with a future that you knew would come to pass. You became arrogant  
and prideful, and thus here we are today."  
  
Jessie looked at the tearful faces of the scouts and couldn't help her own  
tears from falling. Softly she said, "Please don't feel like you've  
failed. We, the solar senshi, also made this mistake." Lita looked up with anger in her eyes at Jessie and sneered at her. "Oh really. When did you kick out your leader and lose the most important person in you lives? When have you ever dealt with the guilt that we've lived with the past five years knowing that Serena had fought her own battle that day, been wounded, tried to explain but we wouldn't listen. I wouldn't listen to her.she'd been hurt and I didn't care. All I cared about was that she was late, and  
I made her leave us."  
  
Jessie looked on in shock as Lita blamed herself for Serena's disappearance. She hadn't been expecting this! She opened her mouth to  
answer when Rei softly said, "Jessie, I don't think you understand what happened that day. Please don't say any more. I don't think I could bear it." Crying, Rei turned and left the living room slamming her door behind her. Mina stood up and choked out, "I think we'd better stop for tonight. We're all tired and we're all saying things we'll regret in the morning."  
Looking at Lita, Mina held out her hand and pulled her friend to her, letting her cry on her shoulder. "Jessie, you and the guys are welcome to stay here if you'd like. Jessie you can have.Melody's room until she comes  
back. We'll talk again in the morning."  
  
"I think that's a good idea Mina." Chris stood up and smiled. "We all need a little time to get used to this situation and we will all feel tons  
better once we've slept. Can I help do anything before we turn in?"  
  
"No, thanks Chris I think we've got it." Ami smiled at Chris and said, "You've been a big help already." Moving to Mina's side, Ami helped the two girls down the hall and into their rooms before she softly closed her  
own door. Sitting down on the couch, Chris saw that Jessie looked  
stricken. Softly he said, "Jessie."  
  
But before he could finish, Jessie had run to Melody's room and shut her own door. He could hear her soft sobs through the door. Sighing, Chris rubbed his head and said, "Okay men, what do we do now that we have five  
upset girls to deal with instead of one?"  
  
Chuckling softly, Will said, "Now Chris, don't you think you should answer  
that one being our fearless leader." Ducking the throw pillow sent his  
way, Will said, "Well I don't think you have to be rude about it.huh?!"  
  
A hazy face had appeared in the middle of the living room and the five men  
were startled to see it appear out of nowhere. Looking from one to the other, they all moved closer until they were kneeling a foot away from the  
face. As they moved closer, the face grew less hazy until they were shocked to see Serena's face in all her beauty with silver tears running  
from her eyes.  
  
Softly she said, "Loyal knights of the Solar Senshi, please do not be afraid. I have a message for you." Smiling softly at them, she continued, "You have watched over the little star of light faithfully for many years. She is a happy and healthy girl and a powerful fighter. Do not worry about  
her, she will be and is fine. I am with her now, do not fear for her  
safety."  
  
Serena's voice hardened, as she looked each of the knights in the eye. "You have done well thus far but please remember this. The Earth Sailors are not Solar Sailors. Their past has not been like yours and they do not trust easily. Their hearts are burdened now with guilt for letting two of their friends down. Myself and Melody. Unless you are too dense to see, they have come to care for her like she was their sister. I know why you  
keep information from them but they do not. For your own sake and for theirs you must tell them everything. If you don't Melody will die.and so  
will I." Then she faded from sight.  
  
"Wait!" Sam couldn't believe what they'd just been told! Each of the men knelt for some time, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Kevin got up and moved to a chair. "Well." Looking at the clock, Kevin said, "Since it's now midnight I suggest we all get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. How're we going to explain Melody's disappearance at school?"  
  
"I don't know Kevin, but I think we should all go to sleep now. We have much to think on and little time to think on it." That said, all five men found comfortable perches and quickly fell into troubled dreams. Around  
two, Jessie slipped from Melody's room and sighed at the site of four knights all sleeping on the floor. Smiling, Jessie moved towards the big chair and gently crawled in with its former occupant. Chris smiled in his  
sleep but dreamt on uninterrupted as Jessie snuggled closer to his comforting presence and slept dreaming about Melody telling her something  
important...  
  
*********  
  
Deep in the center of the Earth, down where no living thing dare enter stood an immense castle. Made out of the blackest coal, it stood in the darkness darker than the blackest night and the evil emitting from it was enough to cause Chaos to tremble in fear. There, in that place of evil and  
darkness, in the deepest dungeon lay the sleeping Fairy Princess.  
  
Looking at her prone form from the doorway, cold ice blue eyes glared their hatred and anger at the beautiful girl. 'She shouldn't be this beautiful. Her beauty is enough to rival my own love, and that of my most hated enemy.  
But no matter, she won't be alive for much longer.' Stepping into that pit of gloom and despair, shoes clicking on the stone, the eyes widened as  
the girl moaned softly and started to awaken. 'She's tough. I hit her  
hard enough to knock out any man for at least six hours and she's up in two? This needs some thought.' Stepping into the light, the eyes watched  
the Fairy Princess as she slowly came around.  
  
Melody moaned softly at the pounding in her skull and turned on her side. Feeling cold stone instead of her warm sheets, Melody slowly blinked a few  
times and opened her eyes to see stone walls surrounding her. Gasping  
softly, Melody remembered being hit in the back of the head and then blackness. Turning at the sound of soft laughter, Melody's eyes widened in  
horror at the face she beheld.  
  
"What? Not expecting to see me, Princess? And here I came just to welcome  
you to my humble home. Shame on you."  
  
Shrinking back to the back wall, Melody stared up and said, "But Darien.how  
could you?"  
  
"Simple really. The scouts threw out the one I thought I loved. I agreed with them until I saw she'd been hurt then I tried to go after her but it was too late. She was already gone. For days I wept and cursed my hasty decision and I left the scouts as well to search for Serena. It took me four weeks to find this place, and when I did I met someone who changed my  
life for the better. She showed me what I'd been missing and what true love was. Here she comes. Darling, come and see the puny Fairy Princess  
shivering in terror."  
  
Darien stepped aside to let a very pretty woman in. She wore a long black  
cloak over her blood-red dress. She had long black hair and black lipstick, with hard gray eyes. Her voice was cold as ice when she softly said, "This is the famous Fairy Princess, keeper of the chancellor of hope?  
I thought she would be...I don't know. More powerful. She was pretty easy to snatch and is helpless in our dark castle isn't she." Laughing,  
the woman left the room, saying, "How long do we have to keep her alive  
again? HAHAHA!"  
  
Melody shivered at the evil she felt from that woman. "How can you love  
that...thing?! What about Serena? Don't you care about her anymore?"  
  
"That sniveling baby? I never really loved her in the first place. Now, be a good girl and stay quiet until I need you." With that said, Darien  
left Melody in the darkness of her prison.  
  
Crying softly, Melody prayed that Chris, Jessie, and the scouts were okay. Softly she prayed, "Please, let Chris be okay...and let him find me soon." Feeling a warm brush of love from Jessie, Melody smiled and opened her eyes to find that her tears were giving off a soft purple light. "Okay," she said softly, "I can handle this. All I have to do is stay calm." Still,  
Melody prayed that Chris would find her soon...  
  
*******  
  
Jessie woke up at seven, with the odd feeling that Melody was nearby. The  
fear and despair she felt from her sister broke her heart. Closing her eyes, Jessie sent a wave of love at her sister and thought, 'Wherever you are Melody, I am with you!' Resting her head on Chris' shoulder, Jessie silently wept for her sister and for herself, until she fell asleep with  
tears on her angelic face.  
  
Chris woke up at eight feeling well rested. Opening his eyes, he looked  
down to discover the weight he felt on him was Jessie! She looked like  
she'd been crying all night; tears were still on her cheeks. Knowing Jessie had meant well last night, Chris hugged her gently. 'Poor Jessie, she's worried about Melody, and now she feels guilty about what she said to the scouts last night. She may be very smart and a sailor scout but they  
have to remember she's only six years old. I promise I'll protect her  
Melody, until you get back. And I'll bring you back too!' Getting up  
slowly, Chris put Jessie back down in the chair and covered her with a blanket. Smiling softly, he kissed her cheek and then proceeded to wake up  
the solar knights, not so gently.  
  
Grumbling and hissed threats came out of the four knights until Chris  
pointed at the sleeping Jessie and then everything was still once more.  
Moving out onto the balcony, Chris and the knights silently arranged  
themselves in a circle.  
  
"Okay men, we all know what Serena said last night. Now I want your  
thoughts on what she meant by it all. Sam, you first."  
  
"Well, I think she meant exactly what she said. We all just watched last night as Jessie tried to explain why things are changing in their lives. I  
know we all felt she went a little too far to prove her point, but we  
didn't say anything. I think we all forgot how young Jessie is. She doesn't understand about guilt or betrayal, because she's never felt them. Serena was trying to tell us that we had to tell the scouts about Darien,  
what we know about him and what we know about Melody. We have to share  
with them our past, our mission, and our goal. Otherwise we'll fail."  
  
"But what if they don't need to know it all? I mean, yea Jessie went a little overboard on the explanation and put a guilt trip on the scouts but  
that's no big deal. I think they earned it for being the royal witches they were. Yes it was a mistake and they've dealt with their guilt, but they were never brought to the full realization of why they acted that way. Jessie brought to their attention their pride, and I think she did a good  
job."  
  
"I agree with Kevin. I think they need to know about Darien and some about the chancellor, but not everything. Jessie did a good thing bringing to light their errors, but I also think she went a little to far. The scouts deserved the reminder but not from a little girl they met a month ago. And I think Serena was right to say that the scouts think of Melody as their sister. She's family to them, and in a sense I think they've all put her  
in Serena's place. But that's not the point. The point is Darien has Melody and we have the heart crystal. The question is how do we go about  
getting Melody back and finding the place the chancellor will appear?"  
  
"Good question Will. But I think Melody is the chancellor of hope. How  
else would I have gotten this crystal after connecting with her?"  
  
"What if she somehow knew this would happen and wanted to put it in trustworthy hands. She alone knows the power that crystal holds, and only she can call on its powers to awaken the chancellor. Come to think of it,  
how did the chancellor awaken so many years ago?"  
  
"I think I can answer that question." The five men jumped at the soft  
feminine voice behind them. Turning, Chris saw a sight he'd hoped he'd never see again. Standing before him, with Jessie in her arms, was Sailor  
Saturn. Her glaive beside her glinting in the soft sunlight, she moved with grace and poise to stand before the men with Jessie stirring in her  
arms.  
  
Looking down at the little princess, Saturn smiled softly and said, "Come child, wake for you must hear this too. For your own safety as well as for  
the safety of Melody and Serena." Holding a hand up as Sam opened his mouth to ask something, Sailor Saturn said, "I will answer questions only after I have had my say. There you are little one. It's good to see you wide awake again. Why don't you go sit with Chris over there and I'll tell  
you all a true story about the chancellor of hope."  
  
"Once, long ago, there lived a girl who wanted to protect everyone in the galaxy. Not from evil, or physical harm, but from devastation and demise. It was this lone girl's wish that brought the chancellor into existence. The identity of the chancellor was only known to the girl protector. As the years passed and the girl lay dying, she told her daughter the identity of the Chancellor and told her to tell only her first born heir the secret.  
Over time, the chancellor was forgotten and turned into a myth. Until that dark day three thousand years ago when the negaverse attacked the Moon  
Kingdom, the chancellor lay dormant in the mind of a young girl.  
  
The day of Serena's annual ball, a woman by the name of Jasmine attacked  
little Princess Jessie, to try and gain control over the keeper of the Chancellor. Princess Melody didn't know that Jessie was in danger until  
later that day when she snuck off to talk to Serena in the rose garden.  
There she met Jasmine and found out what evil looked like. Refusing to tell the evil witch who the Chancellor was, Jasmine threw Jessie off the  
cliff towards the sea in front of Melody.  
  
Because of her love for her sister, Melody did an unforgivable act. She called on the Chancellor to save her sister, giving the identity away.or so Jasmine thought. She took Jessie and Melody to her palace and went after Serena thinking she was the Chancellor. When Melody awoke on her ship, she  
became so angry that she used powers no one suspected she had and teleported herself and Jessie out of the ship seconds before it exploded in the sky. This angered Queen Beryl, for Jasmine had used Beryl's ship for this mission, and when Melody tried to protect Serena and Darien from her Shadow Monster, Beryl killed all three of them. So now you know why the  
chancellor was awakened so many years ago.  
  
You think you know that Melody is the chancellor. Let me tell you this, she is not. The keeper of the chancellor could never be the chancellor for  
if they know who they are then they would sleep until called upon to protect the galaxy from destruction. Melody can be saved and I am here to help you towards that end. The outer senshi have been called and so has Rini since this also concerns her mother. They'll be here later today."  
  
Chris nodded his head to show that he'd heard her while his thoughts ran through his head like lightning. 'The outer senshi are coming? This is bad...worse than I thought. They only leave their posts when danger has moved past them and is here on earth.wait a minute.' "Sailor Saturn, who's  
watching your posts while you're on Earth?"  
  
"Not that it's any of your business but the Sailor Starlights are guarding them for the time being. Now, why don't you all finish your conversation while I go wake up the girls?" Smiling, Sailor Saturn de-henshined and a  
small fragile looking girl with coal black hair walked into the house,  
leaving six very confused people behind her.  
  
Chris shrugged his shoulders and looked down at Jessie to see what she thought of all this. Getting a little worried when she avoided looking at  
him, Chris opened his mouth to speak when she interrupted him.  
  
"Guys, I'm sorry for the way I acted last night. It wasn't my place to say any of the things I said to the scouts last night and I know it reflects  
badly on you. I just wanted to help but I made things worse. Can you  
forgive me?"  
  
"Sure we can, Jessie. I mean, you're our friend and friends make mistakes  
sometimes. Next time, just try and remember that some things are too painful to talk about even when trying to make a point, -k-?" Chris smiled  
at Jessie and hugged her tight.  
  
Getting up, Chris said, "Well, I guess we'd better go face the music right? I guess I'll take over for Melody's class.wait a minute! Isn't today the  
day they go to the park to practice their art?"  
  
"Yes it is, Chris. We're all supposed to meet Melody at the park at 8 by  
the heart fountain. Why don't you go and say that our job is to find Melody and paint where she's at in disguise? You can tell the class that we'll be doing art exercises all week and the student who finds Melody the  
most gets no homework next week?"  
  
Grinning at Ami, Chris nodded his head and softly said, "That's a great  
idea Ami, thanks! But why would you help me out like that? I'm really sorry we kept stuff from you. We won't do it again, we're a team right?"  
  
"Right, we're a team which means we work together. Even when we're still a little mad at each other." Lita and the other girl's stood with Hotaru in  
the window frame and smiled at the guys. "I hate to say this but if we  
don't hurry up, we're going to be late!"  
  
The next ten minutes were pure chaos as the group quickly got dressed and raced to the park. Arriving right at eight, Chris and the guys were amazed that all the students were already there! Clearing his throat, Chris said, "Excuse me, hello my name is Chris and this week I'll be your instructor in the park. Your assignment today is to find Melody. She's hiding somewhere  
in this area in disguise and your job when you find her is to paint the area she's in and where she is. All week we'll be doing art projects and at the end of the week, Melody will decide who found her the most. That student won't have homework next week. So what are you waiting for...go  
find Melody! Be back here at three and I'll collect your paintings."  
  
Laughing at the sight of twenty-five students running about the area with  
paints, brushes, and canvases Chris and the boys sat in the sun and  
wondered how to find Melody...  
  
Jessie smiled to herself as she thought about missing school that day. Seeing Chris eyeing her, Jessie softly said, "If you make me go to school today, I'll tell everyone that Melody was kidnapped. If you get a week off  
from school then I at least should get a day!" With that said, Jessie marched off until she and everyone else in the park froze as the sky went  
black!  
  
Chris, the knights and Hotaru were the only one's unaffected by this bizarre change of events. Quickly nodding their heads in agreement, they all transformed and stood waiting for the enemy's next move. An icy laugh filled the air and Chris' eyes bugged as he remembered that horrible laugh from Melody's memory. Looking up at the sky, Chris turned white as a ghost as he saw Jasmine, sister to Queen Beryl, floating in the air on Darien's  
arm.  
  
"What's the matter boys, scared of the dark? Tidal Black Storm!" The knights tried to move but found themselves unable to as a ball of blackness surged towards them. They all cringed as the blackness was two feet from  
them when they heard, "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" and "Pluto Deadly  
scream!"  
  
Finally able to move, the knights covered their heads as a ball of pink and purple light decimated the darkness before them. Glancing behind them, the knights saw four new women dressed in sailor uniforms and smiled. Nodding his head to the Outer Sailor Scouts, Chris turned and said to Darien, "Well  
that was fun. Want to try again Jasmine? Or are you going to fight us  
Darien?"  
  
"Fight you, no that would be to easy. Why don't I fight the stupid girl I  
have trapped in my tower? What was her name again...oh yeah, Melody. She's such a pretty thing, I can see why you want her Chris but I thought  
you were against cradle robbing?"  
  
"Why you..."  
  
"Now now Chris, don't lose your temper." Clicking his long fingers, Darien  
pointed to the left and Chris was shocked to see Melody dressed all in  
black with tears running down her face.  
  
"CHRIS!" she cried out in a loud voice and then, with another snap of Darien's fingers she was gone. Gasping, Ami softly said, "Darien so help  
me, you bring her back or else!"  
  
Looking down at the quiet senshi of water, Darien was shocked to see anger and hatred blazing in her eyes. Looking at the other inner senshi, Darien noticed they all had that look in their eyes. "Well girls, its nice to see you again. Why all the dramatics Ami? It's not like its Serena I'm  
playing with, just an insignificant girl who you just met three months  
ago."  
  
"We may have just met Melody, Darien but she's our friend. She's looked out for us and protected us from evil and she's been kind to us. We love her as much as we loved Serena, and we want her back." Lita spit the words  
out at Darien and glared her ire at him.  
  
Mina and Rei didn't say a word, but stood right behind Ami and Lita with  
their new fairy crystals in hand ready to transform if needed. Darien sneered down at the girls and said, "What are you going to do about it? I  
could beat you even before I turned evil, and now I'm twice as strong. What makes you think your better than you were when Serena left? You don't  
even have the silver crystal's power anymore.what's this?!"  
  
Mina grinned at Darien and slowly held her fairy crystal in the air. Rei,  
Ami, Lita, and Jessie also held their crystals in the air and smiled as they began to glow with their own light! Sailor Mini Moon gasped in awe as she felt the power rising around the five girls. Softly she heard Sailor  
Neptune and Sailor Uranus say, "Such Power.where did it come from?" "I don't know, Neptune but their crystals are different and they have a new  
runt with them.what is going on down here?"  
  
Softly each girl smiled and said, "Ice Fairy Power!" "Earth Fairy Power!  
"Light Fairy Power!" "Flame Fairy Power!" " Fairy Star Power!"  
Red eyes wide with awe, surprise, wonder, and a little envy Sailor Mini Moon watched as the Inner Scouts transformed into Nova Senshi in flashes,  
eruptions, smoke, and flames! Everyone stopped to watch Jessie's  
transformation.  
Even though she'd already said her transformation phrase, she was still standing exactly as she'd been. Feeling a cold shift in the air, all the scouts gasped as Jessie was hit by a ball of white light in the shape of a shooting star! All her clothes disappeared and Jessie closed her eyes as she felt the comforting presence of the stars surrounding her in their soft lilac light. Looking down in a prayerful stance, she smiled as her silver  
fuku appeared and her silver skirt flashed into existence. Singing a soft note of prayer, Jessie did a twirl and her silver sandals  
appeared and tied about an inch above her ankles. Sighing softly, the stars blew away from Jessie as a star symbol appeared on her forehead and a  
thin gold tiara appeared on her head with a tiny teardrop opal rested  
between her heart shaped bangs. Kneeling on one knee, Jessie's bows appeared-solid black and like her sisters very short and in the center of  
her front bow was a star pendent with her lilac fairy crystal. In an  
explosion of power, that knocked Darien and Jasmine back ten feet Nova  
Fairy Star was ready for action.  
Gritting his teeth in frustration, Darien wondered where the scouts had  
attained their newfound power, especially the little runt! Hearing Jasmine's heated curse, Darien summoned one of his more powerful servants and said, "Destroy them and return to the castle...or don't return at all! I will see you again soon Nova Knight. Until then, know I have your Fairy Princess and your love!" With an evil laugh, Darien and Jasmine left in a  
flash of acid black smoke! Sailor Mini Moon was also wondering how the inner scouts had attained such power. 'They're even more powerful than the outer scouts now.they're more powerful than me! How did that happen?!' "Hey guys, what's up with the  
new gear?" Grinning at Sailor Mini Moon and the Outer scouts obvious shock, Nova Mars  
said, "We'll explain everything later. Right now we have to beat this  
thing before someone gets hurt!" Nodding their heads in agreement, the outer scouts joined the nova scouts and knights in facing the clown-like yoma before them. Nova Star smirked at the yoma and gasped when he vanished in thin air! Standing her ground, Nova Star felt a slight shift in air to her left and jumped aside only to get hit hard from the right! Cursing under her breath, Nova Star the other  
scouts get hit just as hard, if not harder, than she had.  
"What is up with this yoma? We can't fight what we can't see!" "Yes we can Mercury. Trust me." Before Mars could say how though, she was hit with a blast of yellow smoke and she couldn't speak! Laughing at the shocked faces of the scouts, the clown yoma reappeared and said, "What's  
the matter, sissy scouts.can't find me?" Nova Star had had enough of this! Powering up, she didn't feel Mini Moon  
and Sailor Saturn also powering up. Glaring at the clown yoma, who was ignoring the younger senshi, the three little scouts formed a triangle of  
power. Oblivious to the fact that they were even working together, the  
three got very close to each other and all three said, "Tri Dream Unit  
Strike!" The three little senshi gasped at the power and light given off by their combined attack, until its force blew them apart! The clown yoma didn't stand a chance and evaporated with a silent scream! Chris was floored by the power those three had just shown and wasn't surprised that everyone was looking at the three like they'd all grown two heads. Hearing Mini Moon's groan broke the spell and Chris rushed to her side and said, "Are you okay  
little one?"  
Sailor Pluto was shocked and a little wary of the power those three had shown. 'I know that Rini has the power of her mother, but she's never been  
able to tap into it because of her fear of returning to the dark side. Hotaru has the power to destroy an entire planet but it kills her to do so.  
I've never seen the little one before.wait a minute.' Getting a  
thoughtful look on her face, Pluto remembered a legend from long ago.  
'Surely it can't be true. She can't be a Princess from a planet that doesn't exist.either way, how did those three create more power than all the older senshi could pull using all the energy they have. And they all  
lived from it!' Watching one of the new knights rushing to Rini's side, Pluto walked over to Nova Star and knelt down beside her. Looking down, Pluto was awed to see that this girl was younger than Rini had been when she'd first fought the Doom Phantom. She was also floored by the fact that she could still feel this scouts energy and it was almost as strong as hers was! The only  
reason Pluto didn't run for cover was the fact that while Mini Moon and  
Saturn had helped with the attack they had stayed awake while this  
youngster had been knocked out cold. Smiling, Pluto gently picked up the tiny scout and walked over to the group forming around Sailor Saturn. Pluto gasped as she saw tears in Hotaru's eyes and saw Rini kneeling down beside her friend also in tears. Wondering  
what was wrong, Pluto waited for the girls to explain their tears.  
Hotaru didn't know what to think! She'd never felt so much power flow through her and she'd never felt the thoughts of another scout as clearly as she had the little silver scout. It frightened her, because when she'd  
felt Nova Star's thoughts, she remembered a time when there were Fairy Scouts and knew her power was tiny compared to theirs. Feeling a soft hand  
grasp hers, Hotaru looked up into Rini's also haunted eyes and knew she  
wasn't alone in her shock. Rini knew that what they'd just done wasn't because of her or Hotaru. They had experience yes, but the majority of their power had come from the tiny sailor held in Pluto's arms. Nodding her head to Hotaru's silent question,  
Rini gave her friend a hug and de-transformed. Making sure everyone followed her, Rini smiled at the little girl in Setsuna's arms and softly said, "We're fine guys really, but what just happened.well it was an eye  
opener." "I can't exactly explain what happened, because I really don't know. It just seemed right at the time to link up with Hotaru to combine our powers to beat the clown. I thought we might be able to slow him down enough for you guys to beat him. Then, very faintly, in the back of my mind I heard a soft voice ask to join with us. Knowing in my gut that this was okay, I opened my mind and let her in. At that moment when our minds were one, I  
felt.almost as if I'd touched the sun. There was so much power running through me that I could speak. But the voice was there, telling Hotaru and me that it was all right, she knew what she was doing. Then she told us to say what she did and then the power exploded! I remember.hearing a legend about Fairy Senshi from my mom in the future. I don't know her name, but the little one is a Fairy Senshi for sure. And if I'm not mistaken, these  
are the Fairy Knights, and the girl in the sky was the little one's  
sister." "I may be way out of line, but I think we should all join forces. Outers, Inners, and Fairy. Together, we can beat anything that comes our way. And for Pluto to be here instead of at the time gates means were going to need  
all the help and power we can get. You guys in?" "I'm in, little one. What you say is true, there is evil brewing that even I cannot name." Smiling at the little girl in her arms, Setsuna looked up as a soft voice said, "Thanks for taking care of Jessie for me. Her sister  
would never forgive me if anything happened to her while she was away."  
Grinning, Chris took Jessie from the shocked Pluto and said, "Me and my  
boys are in, and once Jessie wakes up she'll be in too. We'll be hard  
pressed to keep her from bouncing around the room in her happiness. My  
thanks to you..." "That's Rini, Princess Serena's future daughter. Next to her is Setsuna, Sailor Pluto and guardian to the gates of time. Then there's Amara, Sailor  
Uranus, and Michelle, Sailor Neptune. I'm Hotaru and I say the outer scouts are in. This is why we came to Earth in the first place, to help the Earth scouts. If we join with them, and they've already joined with  
the Fairy Senshi, then we've no choice but to do the same."  
Amara and Michelle nodded their heads in agreement and smiled as they looked upon little Jessie. Holding out their hands, the two grasped hands with Ami and Lita who were on either side of them. Getting the idea, they in turn grabbed the hands on their sides, until Chris placed Jessie in the  
middle and joined hands with Hotaru and Rini completing the circle. They all tensed as they felt a tremendous power envelop them, and gasped as  
they saw Jessie begin to glow a soft silver color. With her eyes still closed, Jessie stood up and placed her hands in a prayerful way and when she opened her mouth a soft airy mournful note pierced the air. Unable to let go of the hands to his left and right, Chris wondered what was going on. He wanted to run to Jessie and see what was causing her pain, but he  
also knew that she was safe and fine. When Jessie opened her eyes, they had a faraway look in them and she held out her hands as if taking something from someone. Watching closely, all the scouts jumped when the outline of Princess Serena became visible in the middle of their circle. Smiling gently down at the little girl before her, they all heard her say, "Little one, you have been brave beyond measure. You have learned much from your past failures and are still fighting for the dream. I thank you for your faithfulness and know you will complete the task I gave you so long ago. I have a gift for your sister. I trust  
you will keep it safe until you see her again and will give her this message when you give this to her. Tell her 'Love is not what she thinks and only when she truly trusts will she find her knight.' Farewell little  
star, I know you will always be true." Placing in Jessie's hands a thin crystal chain of hearts, Serena smiled at the scouts and vanished! Jessie blinked twice before anyone could move.  
She looked down at the crystal chain in her hands and softly said, "I  
promise, Serena. I will get this to my sister if it's the last thing I  
do!" 


	9. Note from the Author

Note from the Author:  
  
Hey, sorry it's taken me so long to update the story, if anyone who liked this story is still alive..I moved to college this fall and got really busy and then I couldn't update for some reason and when it finally went through it deleated all the chapters I was trying to update. So, I have been retyping the chapters but that is a slow process but I will be updating more often now. Once again I apologize for the long absense and hope you will forgive me.  
  
Love always,  
  
Kat12 


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